GQ India September 2024 (Digital)

When you think of high watchmaking, Louis Vuitton might not be the first name that springs to mind. But the 170-year-old fashion maison has been on a mission to rise up to the highest echelons of the world of watches. And marking a significant step in this rise is the “Tambour Moon Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Geneve Sapphire Frank Gehry”. The latest addition to its signature Tambour line, this limited-edition watch is the French luxury house flexing its watchmaking and craftsmanship chops. It succeeds the redesign that the Tambour collection saw last year, following the appointment of Jean Arnault as director of watches at Louis Vuitton in 2021. The appointment was the culmination of a decade-long journey that began with LV’s acquisition of La Fabrique du Temps, the manufacture that is…

NOT LONG AGO, in the 2000s, the ideal watch was about the size of an Oreo. Anything smaller than 40 millimetres—the iconic sandwich cookie is 44 mm—was considered a ladies’ watch. But over the past half decade, watch collectors have rediscovered the 35mm vintage models of the 20th century, and the watch industry has responded accordingly. Enter the era of the mini watch. The trend started, as so many do in the watch world today, with Cartier. Last year, the venerable brand unveiled the mini Baignoire, a diminutive version of its bathtub-shaped watch that measures just 19mm by 25mm, or roughly the diameter of a pressed penny. Once it hit the market, the mini Baignoire performed in ways usually reserved for hyped steel sport watches: Cartier immediately sold out of the…

I JOINED MY FIRST VIRtual meeting of Panerai loyalists, the Paneristi, in April 2021. The group gets together primarily to hang with like-minded lovers of the brand but often drifts to bigger topics. Befitting the diving brand’s heritage, one attendee called in from a boat to share his wisdom on watch sizes. “42 [mm] for guys, I think, starts to get a little small,” he said. While many enthusiasts are gravitating towards smaller and smaller watches, some holdouts are doubling down on the 42mm-and-up size class. For Adam Craniotes, founder of eminent watch club RedBar, whose personal sweet spot starts at 42mm, that’s just the way he believes some pieces are meant to be. “An IWC Big Pilot is, by definition, big ,” he said. Wearing them allows him to cosplay…

AROOJ AFTAB HAS always found refuge in the night. It’s her safe space, where she retreats from the harsh spotlight of the day to collect her thoughts and search for inspiration. But over the past three years—largely spent on the road, touring behind her breakout 2021 album Vulture Prince—the Brooklyn-via-Lahore musician’s relationship with the moonlit hours has deepened, transformed into something more meaningful. It’s fitting then that much of her new album Night Reign—a celebration of the night’s mystical, sensual and healing powers—was written in the twilight hours, in hotel rooms, on aeroplanes and in moments of jet-lagged clarity while on the road. “You can hear how the night became my friend,” says the 39-year-old, speaking over Zoom from the UK, where she’s just kicked off a six-month tour of Europe and…

ON A SUNNY Barcelona morning, leaning out of the Royal Enfield Guerrilla’s saddle while exiting a corner, I can’t, for the life of me, remember why I don’t ride motorcycles as often as I can. Granted that the riding conditions here, on the B-roads snaking their way around the city’s mountainous periphery, are exceptionally perfect. The tarmac features an intoxicating mix of banked turns; long, sweeping sections; and troughs and dips that send your adrenaline and dopamine levels overflowing from their respective neurological receptacles. But I am reminded of my own Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 that lies forlorn in a basement, waiting for the Mumbai monsoon to end. But this is no time for retrospection. Certainly not for Royal Enfield, which has launched the most contemporary and modern motorcycle in its…

THE YEAR 1924 stands as a monumental moment in history. Athletes from around the globe gathered for the eighth Olympic Games in Paris and the first Winter Games in Chamonix, beneath Mont Blanc. Sixteen nations competed in what was initially called the “International Winter Sports Week”. In Chamonix, 258 athletes from sixteen nations competed in bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, military patrol, figure-skating, speedskating, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping. Among them were 13 women, all competing in figure-skating. Charles Jewtraw made history by winning the first event in speedskating, becoming the first Winter Olympic champion. In that same year, Montblanc introduced the Meisterstück, penning the first chapter of its writing legacy. Now a century later, the brand is celebrating 100 years of its iconic pen while tipping its hat to…

FROM THE DAYS of the maharajas, jewellery has always been a bona fide style move for Indian men. In the recent past we’ve applauded Harry Styles for his pearl necklaces and Timothée Chalamet’s love for chunky chains over his bare chest, and obsessed about Ranveer Singh’s gold hoops and Hardik Pandya’s wrist stack. From embellished belts to statement ear cuffs, this season is all about expressing your individuality. For this jewellery edit, GQ teamed up with actor Rishabh Sawhney, recognized this year for his performance as the memorable antagonist in Fighter, in which he locked horns with Hrithik Roshan. As a civil engineering student at Vellore Institute of Technology, Sawhney had zero plans to become an actor. After a stint in construction and a year at American Express—a job he found dreary…

IF YOUR WHITE SOCKS AREN’T DIAMOND WHITE, BIN ’EM With great white socks comes great responsibility: keeping them white. Because the moment they lose that shine, they look grubby—especially when they’re worn with some box-fresh white trainers. To prolong their lifespan, throw a small amount of bleach or a good dollop of Vanish into the wash. —ITUNU OKE, GQ STYLE PROJECTS EDITOR SAMBAS ARE TIRED, BUT ADIDAS ISN’T Yes, your last three Hinge dates wore Sambas, and so does the most recent former Prime Minister. But the three stripes have more than enough heritage to withstand any spike in popularity. If you need to, go off piste and scoop up some lesser-known models: check out the Tischtennis or the SL 72. —JOSIAH GOGARTY, GQ CONTRIBUTOR A NECKERCHIEF IS NOT A PERSONALITY, BUT IT REALLY…

It’s been 14 years since Alexander Lee Sanchez first arrived in Mumbai, armed with a San Francisco food philosophy and big dreams. “I was 26. I wanted to impress everyone and be adored,” recalls Sanchez, now one of India’s most renowned chefs. “I was tasting everything before it went out, re-seasoning and cooking things myself. Throwing kitchen staff off the line and firing them on the spot.” After stints at Thirsty Bear Brewing Company (serendipitously called The Bear) in his hometown, followed by Michelin-starred establishments such as La Folie, Manresa, and The French Laundry, it was at The Table in Mumbai that Sanchez finally helmed a kitchen completely on his own. Young, naive and hungry for success, Sanchez threw himself into his work, turning into an angry, screaming chef who ripped…

IT IS THE laugh you hear first. Heh heh heh heh heh. Unhurried. Like he’s got all the time in the world to do it. Some of the buildings here at Château Miraval, where Brad Pitt is just now tumbling out from wherever he spent the night, cup of coffee in hand, are nearly 200 years old, and the laugh rings off the stonework: heh heh heh heh heh. It rings through the terraces of olive trees. It ruffles the stone pots of lavender and rosemary. It sends the literal butterflies alighting on literal pink blossoms into the air, up toward the Provençal sky, which is the same soft blue as it was when Matisse painted it. It echoes off the lake and the vineyards and the ancient chapel and…

Shubman Gill How To Build a Great Skincare Routine for Your 20s Whether you’re an athlete or a gym bro, it’s important to not take your skin for granted in your 20s, and have some semblance of skincare. Here are five things that dermatologist Dr Jamuna Pai recommends: + Get regular cleanups to remove excess oil from your skin. + Hydrate your skin with water-based moisturizers. + Use a serum with salicylic and benzoic acids. + Get sunlight for a vitamin D3 boost, crucial for acne-prone skin. PRO TIP “Adding a pinch of salt to your drinking water helps replenish lost electrolytes, enhancing water absorption and preventing dehydration.” —Dr Jamuna Pai Waris Ahluwalia Maintaining Turbaned Tresses Those who adorn or cover their heads with turbans or headgear face a unique hair-care challenge. The constant friction and pressure can take a toll…

Approximately 36 hours after Dries Van Noten waved goodbye at the closing of his last-ever runway show, the legendary Belgian fashion designer is sitting in his sunny showroom in Paris. It’s another Monday morning at the office, with chicly dressed employees clacking away at computers. Wearing his signature navy jumper with khakis and tan leather shoes, the 66-year-old is brisk and well-rested. “I slept last night, which was not the case the nights before,” he says with a smile. As we settle in for a wide-ranging discussion about his menswear legacy, his thoughts about the fashion industry, and his future plans, Van Noten starts telling me, almost by reflex, about how he had to split the footwear collection that lines the shelves around us into two parts, something to do with…

IT’S A SATURDAY in a well-appointed room in a luxury hotel in a major American city and a man named Richard Overum has just escorted me from the lobby to brief me on my new identity. My directive: Embody a high roller. A man capable of signing a check for millions of dollars at a moment’s notice. And, most important, a man looking to make an investment. I need to look perfect, Overum explains. Because tonight, I’ll be shadowing him on a sting. Richard Overum is not a member of law enforcement or a government official. He’s something else: a rarefied practitioner in a line of work he’s all but created for himself. He hunts businesspeople he suspects are breaking the law—a job that by virtue of oft-overlooked sections of federal law…

PARIS It’s early spring in Paris, and Demna, the enigmatic creative director of Balenciaga, leaps up from his chair. He’s in a bright showroom, examining a slouchy model with a mullet. Balenciaga’s winter 2024 runway show is in two days, and Demna has been holed up here for hours making final adjustments to each look that will hit the catwalk. Have you seen any documentaries about couture houses? You’ll find a more dynamic atmosphere in a monastery. But this showroom, stretching out beneath the vaulted ceilings of a former hospital built in the 17th century, looks kind of like an adult slumber party, soundtracked by earsplitting techno. Following Demna’s lead, nearly every person in the room is wearing designer pyjama sweats. I’m asked not to disturb Demna while he’s locked in, so I…

ON a windy day in Downtown Los Angeles, the eight members of the K-pop group Ateez swim through a swarm of press toward a pop-world welcome: a ribbon-cutting for an exhibit dedicated to them at the Grammy Museum. It’s part of the museum’s efforts to celebrate the rising influence of Korean pop music. And Ateez, with a growing international profile and a number one album in the US under their belt, are representatives of the next cresting wave of K-pop. Inside, the group’s arrival on the global pop scene is made concrete: Its costumes and props from a 2023 music video are on view right next to a Shakira display, and not far from Michael Jackson’s stage costumes. Hongjoong, Ateez’s primary rapper, songwriter, and leader revels at the late pop icon’s…

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