Thursday, April 18, 2013

Dandy Photo Book

Photo of Massimiliano Mocchia di Coggiola by Rose Callahan

Obviously I haven’t updated this blog in ages, but I assure you I have a perfectly dandy excuse. For the past few months I’ve been working with the excellent photographer Rose Callahan on a book based on her blog, The Dandy Portraits. I’ve been writing the text to accompany Rose’s beautiful photographs. The book is due out this Fall on Berlin’s Gestalten Press. Rose and I have been working pretty much non-stop since we got the book contract – she photographing beautifully-dressed men and me interviewing them and writing profiles. The process has been as exciting as it has been exhausting. A few weeks ago we travelled to London to gather more material for some of the UK’s greatest dandies.

I’m particularly excited because this book isn’t just a fashion book – it isn’t a survey of menswear. Instead, it’s an exploration of a particular type of man; one obsessed by clothing and dedicated to mastering style. The subjects span ages, races, language groups, and sartorial philosophies. Among them are the most famous trial lawyer in New York City, one of the 20th Century’s greatest journalists, the English lead singer of a Norwegian “Death Punk” band, a pair of cardiologist brothers, a world-renowned barber, a famous interior decorator, a poet, several menswear writers and bloggers, some clothing designers, a handful of artists, a couple of jazz bandleaders and sidemen, and many more. The only think these men have in common is their passion for dressing.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I’ve enjoyed working on it. For more teasing samples of Rose Callahan’s incredible work, please visit her blog at http://dandyportraits.blogspot.com/