What is #menswear talking about? Lewis Hamilton's Dior collection, Louis Vuitton x Timberland and more
Plus, Kevin Parker designs a trippy capsule collection for A.P.C. and Daniel Craig let's his post-Bond freak flag fly for Loewe
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WELCOME TO ‘What is #menswear talking about?’, a weekly dispatch where we discuss the news, rumours and conversations that are dominating the men’s style discourse, and therefore, our Esquire water cooler chitchat.
Scroll on for this week’s edition.
As Dior’s newest brand ambassador, Lewis Hamilton co-designs a lifestyle collection
Lewis Hamilton, the driver who brought luxury style to Formula 1, is now a Dior ambassador. Known for his relaxed and experimental off-the-grid fits (and penchant for a matching set), it’s the pieces from Kim Jones’ Dior collections that are among the driver’s biggest style moments in recent memory. The partnership brings F1’s most successful driver and the French legacy house even further, celebrating the occasion with a new capsule collection designed by Hamilton and Jones. Spanning sneakers, sunglasses and snowboards, the collection combines functional lifestyle and outdoor pieces with stylish prints and vibrant colours – hallmarks of Hamilton’s style. Surprisingly, the collection doesn’t have much to do with motorsport, but instead it focuses on Hamilton’s other pleasures: skiing and snowboarding. And with ready-to-wear pieces perfect for aprés-ski, fleeces, knits and sweatshirts, it merges Hamilton’s relaxed style with Dior’s innovations in the organic and recycled textiles space.
The collection will be available in Dior boutiques and online from October 17.
Louis Vuitton drops its collab with Timberland
After teasing it at his autumn/winter 2024 show for the storied French house, Pharrell Williams’ collab with iconic American boot maker Timberland has now landed. Part of the brand’s capsule workwear collection — which also stars the Keepall 50 Toolbox, a new utility-inspired interpretation of the maison’s emblematic Keepall — the boots riff off Timberland’s classic lug sole silhouette while monogram detailing and leather tag adornments give the styles a contemporary LV twist. The styles come in three styles: a classic 6-Inch, taller ‘LV Boot’ and 6-Inch Exceptional Edition, which was the product of a creative collaboration between the shoe, jewellery, and hard sided experts at Louis Vuitton (they feature a tongue printed with 18K gold LV initials — exceptional indeed). It’s unlikely we’ll see a pair of Timberlands this luxurious again, so if you want a piece of fashion history, consider this your chance to invest.
Available at Louis Vuitton’s stores from August 8.
Daniel Craig like we’ve never seen him
Rocking a fringe and fair isle knits, the Loewe autumn/winter 2024 campaign marks a new look for Daniel Craig — and one that had the internet talking. Featuring our former Bond in pieces from its autumn-winter 2024 collection, once again, Loewe’s marketing team hit the bullseye (their last hole in one was casting Jamie Dornan). Shot by British photographer David Sims (a frequent collaborator of Loewe’s), the campaign sees Craig embodying a new character with every look: defiantly posed in each portrait, it’s like he’s bringing a Richard Hawkin’s composition to life in each shot.
‘Jonathan Anderson, costumer designer’ is a sideline gig you may not be aware of. Coming off the back of designing the costumes for Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, and dressing stars Zendaya and Josh O’Connor for the film’s global press tour, the Loewe creative director’s next costume project with Guadagnino will be Queer, starring Craig and Outer Banks’ Drew Starkey. It’s set to hit the film festival circuit later this year, so prepare for that. In the meantime, consider the campaign a soft launch as to what we can expect of Craig in the film. He will be playing Lee, an American expat in Mexico City who becomes infatuated with a younger man named Allerton (Starkey). Juicy and idiosyncratic? We love to see it.
Aussie actor Felix Mallard is the new face of Dior Beauty
Since breaking out in roles such as rockstar Cooper James in the Harry Styles-produced TV series Happy Together, and as Marcus Baker in the wildly popular Netflix comedy-drama Ginny and Georgia, Felix Mallard has become one of Australia’s most promising emerging actors. And no stranger to the hair and make-up chair (acting since a young age), Mallard has been named Dior Beauty’s first Australian male brand ambassador, a perfect fit, as he embodies the energy and spirit of the house. Fitting as it is, we also caught up with the actor in June as he got ready for Dior’s menswear show in Paris, where he talked us through his pre-show rituals and essentials, completing his look with a spritz of the house’s iconic Dior Sauvage.
‘Psychedelic minimalism’ and alpacas from A.P.C. and Tame Impala
Known for its very well-made essentials and clever series of creative collaborations, Parisian brand A.P.C. has tapped Australian multi-instrumentalist Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) in a new collaboration. Merging Parker’s bold and trippy vision with the brand’s iconic minimalism, the result is A.P.C. at its most maximalist, or, as the brand is calling it, ‘psychedelic minimalism’.
As if Parker’s immersive sonic universe has been made wearable, the collection uses alpaca wool in electric, multi-coloured knits (hence the alpaca-studded campaign), striped corduroy trousers, heavyweight jerseys and denim in earthy tones. The textiles and fabrics are also sustainably sourced, while environmentally-safe mineral dyes were used. Approaching his music with meticulous attention to detail, we can only imagine this collab was made with a similar level of love and care.
Available to shop at A.P.C. Sydney and A.P.C. Melbourne, as well as incu.com from July 18.
R.M. Williams is officially B Corp certified
Immediately recognisable for their Chelsea boots — travel to any urban Australian city town and you’ll spot them — R.M. Williams has been an iconic figure in defining Australian style for eons, due in part to its dedication to producing high-quality products that endure the toughness of our landscape. In its 92-year history, the brand’s efforts towards promoting Australian craft and sustainability has now officially earned it B Corp status, an industry certification for brands that have integrated an effort to make a positive impact on people and communities into their business model. And in our mass-produced world, this is no easy feat — we hear that obtaining the certification is hard, due to its rightfully high standards of transparent production.
“We are immensely proud to have obtained B Corp certification,” says Angela Winkle, chief sustainability and strategy officer at R.M. Williams. “R.M. Williams was founded on the principles of circularity and quality some 92 years ago . . . we’ve seen our sustainability journey continue with renewed passion and focus.”
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