GQ USA - 2019-05

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The Heroes
of Helltown

Fashion’s
Sci-Fi

Visionary
America’s
Best New
Restaurants
Boom Times
for Vintage

Watches

Keanu
Reeves

Enters His Icon Era









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CONTENTS

GQ May

FROM TOP: PABLEAUX JOHNSON/COURTESY OF BRET T MARTIN; MAT T MARTIN (3) The Fix Behind the Scenes
with the People Who
The New First-Class Status Symbols.. . . . . . . . . . .. . . 17
The Incredible Timeliness of Make GQ
’90s Airport Style... . . . .. . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . . . . . 22
Native Sons: RASHID JOHNSON and Contributor
ASHTON SANDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Labels We Love: NOAH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 BRETT MARTIN
WES LANG on the Hype-Worthy Correspondent
Omega Seamaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . 34 As part of his quest to uncover the best
Summer Comes Early with MAC DeMARCO. . . . . . . . 38 new restaurants in America this year
The Man Who Sparked the Watch Boom. . .. .. .. .. . 42 (page 74), Martin traveled to 20 cities in
just three months, stopping at 103 spots
Features along the way. So what should a restaurant
not be doing? “Charging for olives,” he
Cover Story: KEANU REEVES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 says. “Other than that, I’m pretty much
Elton John’s Rocketmen. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . 66 wide open—which, by the way, is what I
GQ’s Best New Restaurants in America 2019. . . . . 74 consider the most important, possibly the
ERROL SON HUGH Sees the Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 only, qualification for my job.”
The Hotshots of Helltown. . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Tee Time with SCHO OLBOY Q. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Office Grails

→

STEPHANIE HURTADO

Bookings assistant

“Someone called me
Stevie Nicks while I was
wearing these pants, and
now they’re my favorite.”

SIMON ABRANOWICZ

Deputy art director

“I like wearing futuristic
fabrics and shoes that

speak volumes.”

On the Cover →

Photograph by Daniel Jackson. CODIE STEENSMA
Styled by George Cortina. Coat, $1,195,
by Hilditch & Key. Suit, $1,100, by Deputy managing editor
Chester Barrie. Shirt, $595, by Tom Ford.
Tie, $245, by Charvet. Sunglasses, “This Veda dress is
$1,075, by Jacques Marie Mage. stark but romantic—
woodland nymph meets

Tribeca mom.”

MAY 2019 GQ.COM 7





CONTENTS

GQ May

For our cover story on actor Keanu Reeves, see page 54.

Coat, $1,195, by Hilditch & Key. Suit, $1,100, by Chester Barrie. Shirt, $595, by Tom Ford.
Tie, $245, by Charvet. Sunglasses, $1,075, by Jacques Marie Mage. Ring, $3,400, by Tiffany & Co.

10 GQ.COM MAY 2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL JACKSON



LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 2 3

1

Same 6
Suit,
Different
Socks

45

1. I buy white 2. Hand-painted 3. A vintage white- 4. Engraved initials 5. I once followed my 6. My vintage 36-mm
ribbed Gildan socks Vans by artist (and gold Tiffany bracelet can transform a belt wife into Buly 1803, steel-and-white-gold
and tie-dye them. GQ watch columnist) and a white-gold from a pants-holder- an apothecary in Paris, Rolex Datejust, circa
Doing a fresh batch Wes Lang. skull ring with an inset upper into an intensely and discovered these 1984. Heads up, if
this weekend. ruby. (They match personal family acetate tortoiseshell you’re interested: Rolex
the white-gold bezel heirloom in the making. combs. For a few extra announced it’s adding
of my watch.) euros, they’ll paint your this exact watch to its
name on them. lineup again for 2019.

T H E O T H E R M O R N I N G , in the locker room at my gym, eccentric. My locker-room neighbors and I might wear Will Welch ARNAUD PYVKA (7)
I noticed a di≠erence between the way I get dressed similar suits, but by the time we emerge, it’s clear we’re
relative to the businessy guys who have lockers headed to very di≠erent parties. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
nearby. We both put on our pinstriped suits one pant
leg at a time, but then they comb their hair and leave I’ve spent the past decade or so obsessing over,
while I spend an extra 60 seconds or so doing what sourcing, saving up for, and collecting all these
I call “putting on all my shit.” A watch, a necklace, a personal e≠ects, and they feel exactly that—deeply
coordinated bracelet and ring, a key chain that hooks personal. So in this fashion moment full of great
onto a special little loop my tailor puts above the right innovations in designer apparel technology, don’t
butt pocket of all my suit pants. My combs have my forget about the haberdasher, the tailor, the jeweler,
name on them. My glasses, too. the engraver. It’s not always the clothes that di≠eren-
tiate men who care about style from men who just get
Two generations ago, having a host of personal dressed. It’s all the little things. So here’s a look at all
e≠ects was more common. These days, I guess, it’s my shit, in case it inspires you to rethink yours.

12 GQ.COM MAY 2019

great taste
for those with
great taste.

© 2019 glacéau. glacéau®, smartwater® and label are registered trademarks of glacéau.

® VisualsPLE Chief Business Officer
NE
Editor-in-Chief bookings director CLE Susan D. Plagemann
TH
Will Welch Victoria Graham head of marketing

executive design director visuals editors Kimberly Fasting-Berg
head of sales, fashion–international
Robert Vargas Andie Diemer, Matt Martin David Stuckey
head of sales, fashion–american
director of editorial operations associate visuals editor Amy Oelkers
head of sales, beauty
Sarah Schmidt Jared Schwartz Lucy Kriz
head of sales, auto
visuals director supervising video producer Tracey Baldwin
head of sales, media/entertainment
Roxanne Behr James Pettigrew Bill Mulvihill
head of sales, biz/fi/tech
fashion director senior video producer Doug Grinspan
head of sales, vice
Mobolaji Dawodu Noel Howard Laura Sequenzia
head of sales, luxury
digital director bookings assistant Risa Aronson
head of sales, cpg
Jonathan Wilde Stephanie Hurtado Jordana Pransky
head of sales, home
articles editor Art & Production Jeff Barish
head of sales, health
Geoffrey Gagnon design director Carrie Moore
head of sales, travel
features editor Keir Novesky Beth Lusko-Gunderman
head of sales, golf
Daniel Riley art director Dan Robertson

entertainment director Justin Patrick Long head of operations

Dana Mathews deputy art director Deborah Brett
vp, finance & business development
special projects editor Simon Abranowicz Sylvia W. Chan
vp, fashion & brand marketing
Mark Anthony Green production director Rachael Klein

style editor Jim Gomez executive business director

Noah Johnson production associate Jennifer Jackson

site editor Timothy J. Meneely Published by Condé Nast

Chris Gayomali Copy & Research president & chief executive officer

staff writer associate managing editor Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr.

Zach Baron Laura L. Vitale chief financial officer

deputy style editor senior copy editor David E. Geithner

Sam Schube Rebecca O’Connor chief revenue & marketing officer

deputy managing editor research director Pamela Drucker Mann

Codie Steensma Jordan Reed chief people officer

culture editor researcher JoAnn Murray

Mari Uyehara Mick Rouse chief communications officer
legal affairs editor,
entertainment editor Joseph Libonati
content integrity group
Eugene Shevertalov chief technology officer
Lucas Zaleski
senior associate editor Edward Cudahy
Contributors evp–consumer marketing
Benjy Hansen-Bundy Monica Ray
creative director-at-l arge evp–research, analy tics & audience
news & culture staff writers Jim Moore
development
Clay Skipper, Jay Willis contributing stylists
Stephanie Fried
style writers Matthew Henson, Simon Rasmussen
head creative director
Rachel Tashjian, Cam Wolf correspondents
associate editor, entertainment Raúl Martinez
Brennan Carley Robert Draper, Sean Flynn,
Alice Gregory, Chris Heath, Julia Ioffe, Condé Nast Entertainment
assistant st yle editor Jeanne Marie Laskas, Drew Magary,
Brett Martin, Michael Paterniti, president
Samuel Hine Nathaniel Penn, Wells Tower,
assistant to the editor-in-chief Amy Wallace, Jason Zengerle Oren Katzeff
Colin Groundwater evp–motion pictures
Communications Jeremy Steckler
editorial business assistant evp–alternative programming
executive communications director Joe LaBracio
Danielle Cohen evp–cné studios
Carly Holden Al Edgington
Fashion
communications manager Condé Nast International
deput y fashion director
Ashlee Bobb chairman and chief executive
Matt Sebra
communications associate Jonathan Newhouse
fashion editor
Alex Pisauro president
Jon Tietz
Artistic Director Wolfgang Blau
senior fashion market editor
Anna Wintour www.condenast.com
Taryn Bensky www.condenastinternational.com
ASE RECY
associate fashion market editor
IS MAGAZI
Miles Pope
Those submitting manuscripts, photographs, artwork, or other
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send originals unless specifically requested to do so by
Haley Gilbreath Gentlemen’s Quarterly in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts,
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Digital accompanied by a self-addressed overnight-delivery return
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commerce editor responsible for any unsolicited submissions.

Martin Mulkeen
director, audience development
Joel Pavelski
senior manager, social media
Luke Leifeste

data analyst

Daniel Perko
manager, newslet ter strategy
Stephanie Talmadge

lead web producer

Ben Pardee

PUT TWO & TWO

TOGETHER
and you could save
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REAL APPRECIATION

I S N ’ T S P O K E N , I T ’ S P O U R E D.

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PAINTING: ALEX ISRAEL, ‘SKY BACKDROP,’ 2012. ACRYLIC ON CANVAS. 108 X 192 INCHES © ALEX ISRAEL. PHOTOGRAPH: JOSHUA WHITE. COURTESY OF GAGOSIAN. COLLECTION OF THE BROAD, LOS ANGELES. The a

Fi ss Status Symbols BySAMUELHI
The New

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT MARTIN NE

Rimowa Lands at LAX

The fashion world’s favorite hard-sided suitcase
now comes in an on-trend ombré colorway,
thanks to artist Alex Israel, who overhauled
the aluminum carry-on in his signature

L.A.-sunset motif ($2,800; that’s Israel’s painting
Sky Backdrop in the background).

MAY 2019 GQ.COM 17

The The Great
Fix Getaway Shorts

Drops If your go-to swim trunks
walked into an old-
A Highly school boxing gym, you’d
get these quick-drying
Z Zegna’s ace travel water–to–watering hole
SSS World Corp bad boys
Recycling Looks ($119 each).
Good on You
The Go-Anywhere
Stella McCartney stays Weekender
on the cutting edge of
environmentally responsible The North Face’s legendary
fashion by making these Base Camp duffel now
wear-anywhere sweaters comes with two sets of straps
from regenerated Italian (so you can carry it or wear
cashmere ($615 each). it as a backpack) and in rad
’90s-inspired hues ($139).
Time Flies
The Drug Rug,
The business-class Upgraded
corps are fighting over
Rolex’s new “Batman” During a flight delay or a
GMT-Master II, which is red-eye, we’ll be burrowed
engineered to keep in this luxuriously soft
track of both home and Michael Kors Baja-style
away time ($9,250). knit hoodie ($498).

18 GQ.COM MAY 2019 New Wave Smells PROP STYLIST: DUSTIN HUBBS AT MARK EDWARD INC.

Alex Israel also leaves his
mark on a Louis Vuitton
travel case ($7,650) for the
brand’s three new, crisp
unisex scents (from $250
each; his artwork appears
on their packaging as well).







The Hall of Air
Fix Fame Travel
Edition

Fly Like Nic Cage: Wesley
The Incredible Snipes
Timeliness of 1994
’90s Airport Style
David
GQ’s NOAH JOHNSON on why it’s never made Letterman
more sense to dress like it’s 1994—and you’re 1995
a movie star headed to LAX.
Whitney
O R A L L T H E obvious indig- that they looked like they belonged HoustonSEE ADDITIONAL CREDITS.
wherever they’d been or wherever they 1993 SEE ADDITIONAL CREDITS.
F nities of modern air travel, were headed, whether it was Aspen or
there still remains some Anguilla. And Americans had decided
wonder in it. It’s a sub- to stop suiting up to fly decades ago,
lime dichotomy. If you’ve ever flown instead opting for clothes they could
on a plane, you know the feeling— easily slip on and o≠ (and sleep in).
disoriented but ebullient, demoralized
yet posh, dehydrated and a little bit The second tenet they honored was
glamorous. It is a miserable, thrilling discretion. The terminal was the oppo-
experience to be transported so far so site of the red carpet. It was where the
quickly, one that has begotten an entire world’s most recognizable people dress
genre of fashion: the airport fit, the ulti- up to go unnoticed. Of course, Johnny
mate expression of high-low style. Depp and Winona Ryder didn’t stand a
Air travel has always demanded par- chance promenading through baggage
ticular attention to wardrobe—from claim, but a hat and sunglasses could
Amelia Earhart’s legendary androgy- help them achieve that we’re keeping
nous transatlantic flying kit to the crisp a low profile posture. Once they were
business attire you’d find on the smoky spotted by the paps, the accessories
Boeings of the ’50s and ’60s. But the air- helped conceal flight-ravaged skin
port fit truly arrived in the ’90s, when and hair.
mass-market demand for celebrities
doing things created a paparazzi gold The third and most critical tenet on
rush. And for enterprising photogra- display was a sly hedonism. The air-
phers hunting A-list game, Ron Galella port fit was not merely a compilation
most notable among them, there was no of garments. It was an attitude. One
better shooting field than Los Angeles that required a cigarette, an expensive
International Airport. The trophies— leather jacket, and the countenance of
dressed-down celebs with frequent-flyer someone quietly headed to a debauch-
cards—filled tabloid pages. erous private island. The airport is like
At LAX in the ’90s, even the most the runway: What you see is all that’s
sophisticated L.A. County residents real, and the rest is fantasy. That’s what
could be found deliriously slogging makes ordinary clothes so evocative.
through the terminal, still foggy from
the in-flight Cabernet and quaaludes. Today the airport fit is everywhere.
Or arriving cheerfully to check in their It’s the college-freshman fit, the subway
freshly packed Vuitton luggage, always fit, the gym fit, the o∞ce fit, the L.A.-girl-
sporting an exquisite airport look. who-thinks-we-think-she-looks-like-
The celebrities who truly mastered Kim-Kardashian fit. It connects with
the airport fit adhered to certain invi- the current notions of easy-to-access
olable tenets. First among them was luxury and e≠ortless, woke-up-like-this
comfort. Traveling in and out of vari- style. It’s why sneakers and sweats are
ously climate-controlled spaces and considered chic, and why designers high
between time zones required layers. and low now load collections with them.
Layering was also the key to ensuring It’s the Instagram fit—the projection of
a feeling, an attitude, or a fantasy that
can be captured in one candid image.

22 GQ.COM MAY 2019

Cindy Woody Tyra Kevin
Crawford Harrelson Banks Bacon
1991 1994 1996 1991

Halle Andy Nicolas Kate
Berry Garcia Cage Moss
1992 1993 1993 1994

Gwyneth Christian George “Weird Al”
Paltrow Slater Michael Yankovic
1997 1994 1992 1992

MAY 2019 GQ.COM 23

The
Fix

Fashion

Art Dad, Art Son

Visual artist RASHID JOHNSON has spent a lifetime examining touchstones of the GROOMING: BARRY WHITE AT BARRYWHITEMENSGROOMING.COM. SET DESIGN: ELLE KUNNOS DE VOSS.
black experience through painting, photography, sculpture, and film.

Now, in his directorial debut, he reworks Richard Wright’s novel Native Son,
with ASHTON SANDERS in the lead as Bigger Thomas.

By MARI UYEHARA

24 GQ.COM MAY 2019 PHOTOGRAPHS BY WILLIAM UKOH
STYLED BY JON TIETZ





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The p r e v io u s pa g e,
Fix
from left
Fashion
on johnson
t hi s pa g e, lef t
Coat, $995, by Jacket, $1,810,
Boss. Sweater, and pants, $810,
$745, by Lemaire by Etro. Sweater,
at Totokaelo. $715, by MSGM.
Pants, $910, by Beanie, his own.
Canali. Sandals,
$890, by Bottega b o t t o m, fr o m left
Veneta. Watch,
$37,000, and on johnson
necklace, $7,450,
by Cartier. Jacket, $216, by
AG. Sweater, $800,
on sanders by Rick Owens.
Pants, $1,085, by
Jacket, $2,895, Maison Margeila
by Giorgio Armani. at Totokaelo.
Tank top, $295, Shoes, $980, by
by Alexander Wang. Bottega Veneta.
Pants, $1,150,
by Gucci. His on sanders
own boots by Doc
Martens. Hat, Jacket, $1,250,
$65, by Kangol. and pants, $1,035,
Necklaces by by Craig Greene.
Cartier, $8,000, Sweater, $350,
Tiffany & Co., by Our Legacy.
$10,000, and Boots, $1,200,
Varon, $315 and by Dior Men.
$150. Rings Beanie, his own.
throughout, $285
(on middle finger)
and $225, by
Nikolai Rose.

A L L T H O S E C H E M I C A L S ? ! ” actor Ashton
Sanders asks, leaning over the picnic
table where he’s seated with Rashid

Johnson, the acclaimed multi-media

artist. “Hell no. We need that natural shea.”

It’s a Sunday in Brooklyn, and the two are prac-

tically yelling about fancy face creams—specifically

their distaste for certain artificial ones. I had asked

about moisturizing and about whether they’ve

traded in their shea butter for something a bit pric-

ier now that they’re both, if not meteorically rich and

famous, at least tastefully, artistically comfortable.

That got them going.

“Still using shea butter,” says Johnson, laughing a

warm rumbling bass line. “It’s also an African product.

You know, those Negroes figured out way early—”

“It’s a spiritual thing,” says Sanders, cutting in,

which he rarely does when Johnson is speaking. But

this is a pressing subject.

“It is—it’s a very spiritual thing,” agrees Johnson.

“It’s taking care. Growing up, as a Negro child,

they put so much, like, coconut oil and shea butter

on you. You just get so accustomed to being drenched

in this stu≠.”

28 GQ.COM MAY 2019

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The
Fix

Fashion

Fittingly, sa≠ron-yellow shea butter know, Bigger is, kind of, the black expe- If you love someone you don’t know—
is a key element in Johnson’s fine art, rience,” says Sanders. “No matter where you’re ahead of the game. I’m not sug-
and it shows up early in his new film you come from, no matter how much gesting that other folks don’t have this
Native Son, an adaptation of Richard money you have, somehow we feel these ability, because I think quite a few do.
Wright’s controversial 1940 novel, anxieties from society.” I just think that it’s something that’s
which made a splash at Sundance and almost inherent for disenfranchised
just debuted on HBO. In the open- Johnson suggests there’s also a kind of folks. And it’s beautiful.”
ing scene, Sanders—the 23-year-old power in the struggle: “I think one of the
breakout star of Moonlight—who plays things that people of color have a real leg mari uyehara is culture editor
Bigger Thomas, is shown laying down up on in this country is that, oftentimes, at gq.com.
a gun and then rubbing shea butter on we are quietly rooting for each other.
his neck and cheeks. As he does, birds
chirp outside the window on Chicago’s
middle-class North Side, a world away
from the gritty South Side setting of
Wright’s book.

In relocating the story, Johnson
centers the action on a part of town he
knows well. His artist father lived in
Wicker Park; his mother lived farther
north, in Evanston, where she worked
as a professor of African history at
Northwestern. They were, he has said
before, “black militant hippie parents.”
And they exposed him to the swirl of
ideas that inspired him as a young artist.

At 24, Johnson made a name for
himself when he was featured in a
buzzy exhibition at the Studio Museum
in Harlem. There he showed three
large-format photographs of a homeless
man he’d met in Chicago. In the years
that followed, Johnson broadened his
approach, making paintings, sculpture,
large installations, and video to estab-
lish himself as one of contemporary art’s
brightest lights.

Johnson, now 41, is a big dude. And as
Johnson speaks, Sanders turns his face
up toward Johnson to listen intently.
There are almost two decades between
the pair. But they see eye to eye on so
much, says Johnson. They have a similar
sense of humor, similar sense of strug-
gle, similar desire as artists to make
things that are thoughtful and import-
ant. “We’re both black weirdos,” says
Sanders with a grin. Johnson agrees.

In the film, Sanders—who grew up
as a theater kid in Los Angeles—plays
a decidedly modern version of Bigger
Thomas: He’s a skinny green-haired
afropunk. But for all that’s new about
him, the injustices that Bigger endures
when he gets caught up in a criminal
case, well, those feel timeless. “You

30 GQ.COM MAY 2019

o p p o s i t e pa g e,

from left

on johnson

Sweater,
$1,040, by Dries
Van Noten at
Totokaelo.
Pants, $1,040,
by Rick Owens.
Sandals, $600,
by Bottega
Veneta. His own
watch by Rolex.
Ring, his own.

on sanders

Jacket, $1,116,
by Jil Sander.
Shirt, $310, by
CMMN SWDN at
Mr Porter.
Pants, $760, by
Marni. Boots,
$990, by
Bottega Veneta.
Hat, $360, by
Borsalino.

this page

Jacket, $2,270,
and pants,
$1,190, by
Louis Vuitton.
Beanie and
glasses,
his own.

We Love

Designer PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: MAT T MARTIN. SHIRT, $188, AND SHORTS, $132, BY NOAH. FOR PHOTOGRAPHS, SEE ADDITIONAL CREDITS.

BRENDON BABENZIEN’S

downtown punk-
meets-prep label is

turning ethical
shopping from
a trend into a full-
blown platform.

USTAINABLE FASHION IS donates one percent of its sales to laughs. “I don’t think buying less is that
environmental nonprofits, and it’s made outrageous!” After all, “we’re fine. We have
S one of those terms— capsule collections to raise awareness a nice little healthy business. We don’t need
like “streetwear” or “chic” about environmental issues. But Babenzien to be making hundreds of millions of dollars
or “DJ”—that seem so says categorizing Noah as “sustainable” to feel good about ourselves.” It’s a tricky
recklessly applied that they’re practically would require extreme measures, like pitch, but Noah is willing to subvert the idea
meaningless. I have no idea what it is. I just taking old underwear and grinding it down that there is no ethical consumption under
visualize a deeply uncool graphic tee with to make new underwear. “We use some capitalism—the mantra that launched a
a tag bearing a vicious message like “Made recycled cashmere occasionally for filling thousand memes. “We can still have cool
from 100 percent recycled rubber bands.” in jackets. We have some recycled-cotton shit. We can still have fun,” says Babenzien.
Brendon Babenzien, founder of the cult T-shirts. And we’re always looking for more “But there’s gotta be some limits.”
menswear brand Noah, which has turned options.” Trust: If we could all wear great
elevated sportswear into a platform for tees made from old water bottles, we would, And best of all, Noah has fashion bona
environmental activism, is also flummoxed but right now it’s just not feasible. fides that don’t often come with eco-
by the term. “Does it mean that everything clothing—spiffed-up windbreakers, spunky
you make can be completely, 100 percent So Babenzien has a more radical knits, and smartly tweaked chinos that
re-used?” he muses. “I don’t know if there’s message from Noah: Buy. Less. Stuff. The work easily into an everyday uniform. Not
really much clothing in the world that can brand’s New York City store was closed because the stuff is casual, but because
do that.” This is surprising, because Noah on Black Friday. Outrageous! Babenzien it’s uncompromising. — R A C H E L TA S H J I A N

32 GQ.COM MAY 2019



OUR
MONTHLY

WATCH
COLUMN

The watch world is flooded with limited-edition timepieces that promise
to be must-haves. According to L.A. artist WES LANG, this special Omega Seamaster,

which pays tribute to New York City, is actually worth the hype.

THE HERITAGE THE SERIES THE DIAL THE MOVEMENT
The Seamaster was The N.Y.C. Seamaster is one The lacquered dial, The boutique-exclusive
Omega’s first line of of five “city edition” models. under a sapphire crystal, Seamasters are running
civilian watches—inspired The others are London, Paris, is domed slightly to Omega’s legendary
by timepieces made for Singapore, and Switzerland. enhance the striking Co-Axial anti-magnetic
British airmen and sailors deep-gradient effect. 8800 movement. The
during World War II. bottom line: It makes for
an insanely reliable watch.

THE CASE
The back features a tiny
engraving of the New York
City skyline.

I N C E I M O V E D to L.A. six years ago, not many things that doesn’t read super “retro,” but the N.Y.C. Seamaster is unmis- PROP STYLIST: KAITLYN DARBY
takably modern. At 39.5 mm, it’s got a real presence. It’s no tiny
S have made me miss New York. Then I unboxed this dress watch that disappears under your jacket sleeve.
limited-edition Omega New York Seamaster. The smoky-
gray dial, with this beautiful, somber light coming o≠ it, You wouldn’t want it to. The face itself looks architectural, with
reminds me of riding into Manhattan and seeing the Empire State its long hands and large, tapered hour markers, all 18-karat white
Building in the late ’70s. gold. Plenty of great watches are ruined by an annoyingly placed
Every time the wind changes direction, brands release limited- date window, but this one perfectly balances the dial. And at a time
edition watches. This one stands out. Most people know the Omega when there’s a craze for watches with blue dials, this gray Seamaster
Seamaster as a modern sport watch with a big bezel—like the dive feels extremely untrendy—which is a good thing.
watches James Bond wears. This watch, which Omega is producing
in an edition of 399 (available only at Omega’s two N.Y.C. boutiques; If you’re lucky enough to score one (for $7,600), you’ll want to
if you don’t live in the city, try giving them a call), is closer to what wear it every day. Trust me: As I write this, I’m wearing the one
the original Seamaster looked like when it was introduced in 1948. Omega kindly lent me, and I’m savoring it. Thousands of watches
It’s di∞cult to find a timepiece with a simple, ’40s-inspired design come out each year; only a few will really make you feel something.
Forget rarity or status—that feeling is why you buy a watch.

34 GQ.COM MAY 2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY JOYCE LEE



The Music The chill king of indie
Fix takes it nice ’n’ easy
on his new album,
Here Comes the Cowboy.

By ALEX PAPPADEMAS

Summer
Comes
Early,

38 GQ.COM MAY 2019 Thanks
to Mac
DeMarco

PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON SINCLAIR

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The Music from Canada; he and McNally relo- cut over two weeks in early January,
Fix cated here about three years ago from when L.A. experienced above-average
T W A S A F R I D A Y after- Queens. Before buying this house, rainfall. “It was handy,” DeMarco said.
DeMarco worked mostly in the corners “It was like the weather was like, Just
I noon in Los Angeles, of various bedrooms. He’d never had a finish it, jackass. So I did.” Other than
the first day of March, dedicated space for working on music, contributions from his touring key-
and Mac DeMarco was or a swimming pool; now he has both. boardist and some field recordings of
under the console in his Here Comes the Cowboy is the first twittering backyard birds, DeMarco
home studio, hunting for an orange. Mac DeMarco record completed under played everything himself. The new
The space is a converted three-car these circumstances, but he’s not songs unfold at the same unhurried
garage behind the house he shares sure this had much of an impact on pace as most of the music that’s made
with his girlfriend, Kiera McNally, at the finished product. You can’t hear him a latter-day indie icon, but they’re
the top of a hill on a one-way street on the proximity to palm trees on a also more confidently constructed and
L.A.’s east side. DeMarco, a chill- record, after all. “When I’m in a room less ramshackle than ever—ornate
vibes-playlist staple, is originally doing it,” he said, “the room could kind miniatures without a single wasted
of be anywhere.” gesture. Career-wise, DeMarco may be
bigger than ever, but instead of bulk-
Here Comes the Cowboy sounds like ing up his sound, he’s stripped things
it was written and recorded in the down even further. “I want everything
time it took a sunbeam to make its way to sound tiny,” he said. “That’s what
across the studio, but it was actually I was going for on this record. Very
small. Teensy. Tiny little drums, and
previous page then maybe there’s a guitar, but there’s
a lot of room in between. Slow, quiet.
Vest and T-shirt, That’s what I like.”
vintage. Hat by
Mac Miller Despite the title, DeMarco said,
“it’s not a cowboy record at all.” He
Merchandise. All just likes saying the words “cow-
clothes his own. boy” and “cowgirl,” the way Robin
Williams used to call people “chief.”
this page His favorite cowboy song is Neil
Young’s “Cowgirl in the Sand”—a very
Shirt by Club good choice, and a very Canadian
Monaco. Jeans by one. A key influence this time out
was the 1980 song “Graduation,”
Carhartt WIP. by Henry Flynt, an American concep-
Sneakers by Vans. tual artist and composer whose exper-
imental “hillbilly tape music” sounds
All clothes like Steve Reich minimalism arranged
his own. for dueling banjos. “It sounds kind of
like a train pushing along,” DeMarco
said. “It’s not about cowboys at all,
but that song set a vibe for me, for this
record. In a way. I think.”

He continued showing the rest of
his space. A rack by the door held a
copy of the Marge Simpson issue of
Playboy; a Grateful Dead dancing-
bear flag was hung by the couch. Other
totemic personal items, lined up atop
a sound-ba±ing panel near the lightly
cobwebbed ceiling, included a sev-
en-inch of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl,”
a framed letter from a fan with a cute
cigarette-smoking dog drawn on it,
a photo of a young LL Cool J, and a
DVD of Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards with
another DVD, the Metallica doc-
umentary Some Kind of Monster,
hidden behind it, “just to keep the vibe
straight-up.”

The possibly rotting orange had
failed to turn up, though. DeMarco
began to wonder if it had ever been
there in the first place. “Maybe I’m
trippin’, ” he said.

alex pappademas is a
Los Angeles–based writer.

40 GQ.COM MAY 2019



The Why are classic
Fix timepieces
Watches
suddenly more
42 GQ.COM MAY 2019 sought-after, more

Instagrammed,
and more valuable
than ever before?

The answer has
a lot to do with
auctioneer
extraordinaire

AUREL BACS,

who’s using his
own peculiar
passions to
engineer a
global craze.

By CAM
WOLF

The

Man

Who

Sparked

the

Watch

Boom

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PARI DUKOVIC

bonappetit.com/city-guides eat like a local. even if you’re not.

A BON APPÉTIT BRAND

The Watches
Fix

the watch that Aurel Bacs is tenderly holding—like some diamonds); and, perhaps more surpris-
precious endangered species—is ruined. Well, technically. ingly, seventeen million seven hundred
The once crisp and pristine black sub-dials that arch fifty-two thousand five hundred (for a
along the bottom of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona are Rolex watch, which looked a lot like the
now the color of a dirty old penny, the result of years one Bacs is now holding, right down to
of exposure to the sun. The watch is ancient, tarnished, its ample evidence of wear and tear).
decayed. But Bacs is rapturous. ¶ Bacs (which rhymes And in this, he is unique: While his
with “tax”) is a preternatural optimist when it comes to colleagues in the jewelry or art depart-
timepieces. He’ll describe this one as “tropical,” as if it ment wouldn’t exactly be delighted
were a beach-bumming brunet whose hair had charmingly by a sun-damaged Andy Warhol or a
lightened over a lazy summer. With his loupe—the small banged-up diamond necklace, Bacs
finds something wonderful—and lucra-
magnifying glass used by jewelers—he the founder of Phillips’s international tive—in the defects.
goes in for a closer look. “The dial is watch department alongside his wife,
insanely beautiful,” he says, sounding Livia Russo, is examining a list of time- To Bacs’s eye, the marks and
like a proud father. He drops the loupe, pieces on behalf of a client. He and I are scratches imbue a great watch with a
revealing blue eyes the shade of surg- seated at a table in the back of an enor- special “graciousness, even some sort of
ing electricity—eyes that seem to grant mous white room on the second floor knighthood to [the watch] that it’s sur-
a unique power to see the wonder in of Phillips’s New York City outpost. If vived the test of time without damage,”
watches. And when Bacs deems some- the walls here were granted parrot-like he says. Then, suddenly given to under-
thing beautiful, many others adjust abilities, they might squawk some statement: “It’s partly philosophical.”
their vision to see it just as sweetly. of the ludicrously high numbers that
have lately rattled around this room: During a panel discussion last
Bacs, 47, has sharp features, includ- nine million five hundred forty thou- December, Bacs wandered into a fan-
ing a pointed nose; he carries per- sand (for an Andy Warhol painting); tasy. “Whenever I turn a watch around
manent stubble and slicks back his one hundred sixty-two thousand five and it says, ‘With Love from Dad and
silvered hair, in the style of a debo- hundred (for a necklace composed of Mom,’ within a second I’m sort of zoom-
nair, world-conquering James Bond gumball-sized pearls and 65 carats of ing away and I start thinking, ‘Where
villain. The Zurich-bred Bacs, who is are Dad and Mom today, and where is
Johnny or Jimmy, the recipient of the
watch?’ ” Bacs wants clients to feel a
watch’s life, to imagine themselves as
the next link in the chain—and then
to pay handsomely for the privilege of
such stewardship.

A Bulova
watch gifted
to the
34th U.S.
president,
Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
Provenance
worthy of a
$25,000
selling price.





GQ
Style
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Spring
2019
Issue

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The Watches
Fix

More than any other individual,
Bacs is responsible for the current
hysteria in the vintage-watch market.
He’s an auctioneer, yes, but like the
timepiece-obsessed Flavor Flav before
him, he is also a once-in-a-generation
hype man—a watch enthusiast who
has helped change how timepieces
are talked about and sold all over the
world. By focusing on stories, patina,
provenance, Bacs has helped elevate
the value of all watches. He is simul-
taneously a broad tastemaker and a
matchmaker, enthusiastically linking
discerning buyers with specialized sell-
ers. In short, he’s the perfect guide to
making sense of a suddenly frenzied
and altogether fascinating market—one
in which consumer goods are trans-
formed into unique works of art.

T H E A U C T I O N S T H A T B A C S oversees peculiar: Most auctions are dominated first ceramic watch made by IWC.” A gold Rolex
can often be spectacles. “[They’re] sort by high-priced Rolexes and Patek There were ample strings for Bacs to GMT-Master
of like the Friday-night fight in this com- Philippes, but there was a dogfight over play: After nearly ten minutes of bid- with ample
munity,” James Lamdin, the founder this IWC. The piece had been owned ding, the watch sold for $53,750— signs of wear.
of Manhattan-based watch boutique years ago by the late legendary watch $45,750 more than its high estimate. Still, the
Analog/Shift, tells me in his o∞ce executive Günter Blümlein, who’s watch sold for
between drags on a vape. (Lamdin’s hailed with saving Jaeger-LeCoultre In late 2017, I watched as Bacs pre- $137,500 last
metaphors have mellowed a bit since and IWC in the ’80s. An interested bid- sided over a particularly sensational December.
last year, when he described one such der stood behind a column and waved sale that involved a much hyped Rolex
event to me as “a fucking circus.”) his paddle into Bacs’s sight line. Bacs Paul Newman Daytona previously
lured his prey out into the open. “Please owned by Paul Newman himself. The
Bacs hosts his circuses all over come forward—we’d like to see you in room that night was packed to the
the world—New York, Hong Kong, action,” he said. “Come on, don’t be shy.” rafters—a record attendance—and a
Geneva—but the show is almost always The man, Wei Koh, the collector and large majority of those in the audience
the same. Waving his auctioneer’s editorial director of the watch maga- held their phones aloft to capture the
hammer like a conductor’s baton, Bacs zine Revolution, eventually appeared frenzy. Before Bacs even finished intro-
introduces every watch as though it and placed a bid of $32,000. Earlier ducing the watch, a woman screamed at
is an unparalleled beauty—and those that morning, over breakfast at the him: “Ten million dollars, sir!”
assembled are beyond blessed to have Soho House, Koh had told me he was
the chance to win them. A watch is going to make a run at the watch. He As the auction grew wilder, Bacs
never a Rolex, it is the Rolex. loved the story behind it. “[Blümlein] leavened the atmosphere. At one point,
bought it as a gift for his wife, which is he chided a bidder’s intermediary to
Gliding easily in and out of the four maybe even better,” Koh gushed. “And hurry it along: “What would he like to
languages he speaks—English, French, it’s a stunning watch, the [model is the] do now—go for dinner, go for drinks, or
Italian, German—he talks personally, maybe leave a bid?” The joke raised the
casually to the bidders in hopes of price to $14.6 million.
coaxing out higher figures. The words
emerge honey-coated, attached to sen-
timental imagery: Grandma’s teacups,
a scar on Bacs’s hand he got when a
dog bit him when he was 8, classic
Hollywood beauties. He pulls, strums,
and plucks on the heartstrings until he
finds the right tune.

Sometimes he playfully bullies. Such
was the case during an auction in
December, when an IWC with a black
face and beige markers, its design seem-
ingly ripped straight from the control
panel of a fighter jet, came under the
hammer. “There’s only one, and this is
it,” Bacs announced. What ensued was

48 GQ.COM MAY 2019