Another Man A/W11 Quotes of Note

Another Man 13, titled After Dark as a nod to the infamous entertainment magazine of the same name, is an homage to the thrilling possibilities of nighttime, an exploration of the subtle change of atmosphere which takes place as day moves into night, the clothes get sexier, the textures get lustrous, the hair comes down and crazy, decadent things are no longer impossible.

This thread runs throughout the issue – Gentleman’s Digest renders fashion as fetishwear, laced with a current of erotica; performance artist Vaginal Davis recalls supreme acts of hedonistic debauchery, probably captured on Helmut Newton’s Polaroid; David Lynch, a director whose creations have spawned innumerable nightmares, hails the indefinable mystery and magic of after dark. The icons of the issue are cult actor Pierre Clementi, kinky filmmaker Radley Metzger, Peter Gatien – the “King of New York Clubs,” and Robert Mapplethorpe, the artist who flipped over New York’s seamiest, sleaziest underbelly and showed the world what delicious fun they were missing.

Just as the original After Dark was a subversion of the entertainment magazine of its own time, Another Man 13 is relishing the unmentionable potential of the night. It’s about the mystery of that mystical change that takes place when the blanket of darkness falls; as striped shirts and suit jackets are exchanged for an embroidered dinner jacket and velvet slippers, the first cocktail of the evening is mixed and the mind can turn to the tantalising delights of the evening to come. Here, to help create the mood of expectation, editor Ben Cobb selects some highlights from the interviews and features that make up the latest issue…

Nightclub legend Peter Gatien on New York today: "I was always very proud of the way my establishments were incubators of music, fashion and art. The staff we employed – from the door people, the people designing the invites, the bus boys – were people from the creative communities, they understood that we were trying to create culture and that if we did our job well we would build up a loyal and happy crowd. Nowadays in New York all that energy seems to go into cultivating the affluent crowd rather than the sort of people who bring energy into a place. There's nothing more boring than a bunch of Wall Street guys drinking Dom Perignon."

Chloë Sevigny on Robert Mapplethorpe: "Do I think that Mapplethorpe used his good looks? Well, perhaps it was easier for him to charm his way into people's pants and pocketbooks. He was a hustler - a real street hustler - so it couldn't have hurt him. Did New York corrupt him? Ha! I think he was ripe for corruption to begin with. He was asking for it."

Peter Saville on the dirty pictures of Count Zichy: "The aspect of this world that has always intrigued me is that of mutual consent. If we are drawn to a picture of somebody chained to a wall, do we wish to impose those chains? I've never been interested in people having to do something that they didn't want. The only thing that has ever interested me is what people want to do, and some people want to be chained to a wall. That is what is interesting."

Kim Jones on the inspiration for Louis Vuitton Menswear S/S12: "I like people as diverse as Andy Warhol and David Attenborough. I'm interested in people who have influenced something in the wider society and culture. It's about having inspiring men who make people think. It is about that kind of life, living exactly how you want to live and having fashion exactly on your own terms."

Ben Perdue on this season's evening wardrobe: "It would be wrong to view the relationship between dressing for the evening and the concept of fetishism as being purely about sex. An item of black tie or loungewear can be an object of lust for reasons that are more aesthetic than erotic. Menswear regimens have become ritualistic rather than compulsory. Our connection to codes is as strong as ever - except the chemistry is now about the allure of rules, not following them. After all, being a gentleman never meant relinquishing your individuality."

A letter to Rick Owens from Vaginal Davis, remembering the good old days: "Do you remember the time Glenda performed one of his born again gay christian songs through a megaphone into the ear of a bound and gagged guest hanging upside down from the ceiling of Mistress Antoinette's house in the valley? I think there's a Helmut Newton picture of that somewhere…"

Patti Smith on Michael Pitt: "Michael is at that mystical age of 30, still boyish, yet deeply weathered by experience. As his life contests, he is part cherub, part thug, with the face of an angel and the neck of a young boxer - unconsciously beautiful. Some men are like that."

David Lynch on the night: "When the sun goes down, you're in the dark and a blanket of a new feeling begins to fall over you, and that new feeling is magical. Nighttime has a certain feel and I have to say that, for me, nighttime is more… thrilling. Night holds mystery and that's one of its beauties. As long as we don't know night completely, the beautiful mystery continues. When most mysteries are solved, there is a letdown. But what I've heard is the great mystery of totality, when it's solved, there is infinite happiness continuing forever."

Another Man, Issue 13 is on sale now.

Text by Tish Wrigley