What does menswear say about our culture? A chat with Jacob Gallagher, WSJ fashion editor and author of "The Men's Fashion Book"

“One can look at the male suit as the barometer of cultural macro-changes. There are generations who have discarded or adopted their clothing based on what their fathers wore: in the 50s men wore suits and then in the next generation they stopped, while in the 70s there was a revival of a different type of silhouette that disappeared in the 80s to return in the 90s with Giorgio Armani and with a new interpretation of luxury”, explains Jacob Gallagher, Men's Fashion Editor at the Wall Street Journal and author of The Men's Fashion Book, published by Phaidon. “The goal of the book is to give a bigger picture, almost as a galaxy, to show how a designer operates in this overlapping of events”, reading major changes in society through the evolution of menswear is the ambitious goal that emerges by encyclopedic scope of the book: you’ll find approximately 130 designers, 100 brands, 70 icons, 40 photographers, 40 footwear and accessory designers, 30 retailers, 25 stylists, editors, and writers, 20 tailors, 15 publications, 15 models, and 10 illustrators, as well as art directors, influencers, milliners, and textile designers. Arranged alphabetically, the 500 entries spotlight living legends such as Giorgio Armani and Paul Smith alongside today’s most innovative creatives, including Ozwald Boateng, Alessandro Michele, Kim Jones, and Virgil Abloh, and cutting-edge brands such as Bode, Sacai, and Supreme.

The most interesting aspect of the book is precisely the duality in the creative approach: on the one hand the zoomed-in vision of a cultural evolution that spans almost a century, on the other the intimacy and sentimental complexity of the relationship between men and their representation. 

The Men's Fashion Book by Jacob Gallagher is available in bookstores and on Amazon.

Photo credits 
Jeremy Alvarez
Laurent Bentill
Shezi Manezi