Epic Summer Issue —
Finally. Summer has come, these blissful months when life seems easier—rooftop parties blanketed in purple June night, July’s white-hot shimmering façade sexying up afternoons. But summer is much more than neverending revelry. It’s a time of great change, of personal and cultural metamorphosis, when we shed layers and sweat our way through flings and music festivals and foreign countries. We relax, reading books and magazines at the pool and on the beach, flexing the results of many a cold month devoted to health and fitness. Summer is a thrilling chapter in our lives. Epic times.
Such was the spirit with which we undertook this issue: a new chapter in the story of VMAN. Nobody will experience more change or a broader awakening this summer than our cover star, Andrew Garfield. Swinging across screens worldwide as the new Spider-Man, the devoted actor—who’s worked with some of our greatest filmmakers— is on the verge of global-celebrity status. We felt no one was better equipped to give Garfield advice on his impending transformation than the original Spidey, Tobey Maguire, who also went from being an indie cinema star to ranking as one of the biggest celebrities ever—with his own interpretation of the same character. Here, Maguire graciously interviews his successor, their heartfelt conversation shedding light on the balance of art and image in our extremly celebrity-driven culture.
May 2012 104 Pages
Menswear's Daredevils Bruce Weber's L.A. Diary Bruce Weber Is Waka Flocka Flame Hip-Hop's Last Hop The Savage And The Serene Game Change The Second Coming Of Diego Boneta All The King's Men Vman News The Amazing Andrew Garfield
Stephen Gan
Tom Van Dorpe Catherine
Sandra Kang
Our Take —
VMAN is the quarterly baby brother of V Magazine. Born in 2003, to the same creative team responsible for its older sister, VMAN was a savvy move, responding to the hunger for a hip and stylish title aimed at a certain sector of American men. Sliding neatly into the gap between the rather conservative feel of established men’s fashion titles on one side and the boy-next-door jock antics of successful titles aimed at the younger market on the other, VMAN immediately gained a readership amongst aspirant and affluent urban males who were eager for an option that offered sophistication and a bit of luxury without these things being defined in boring traditional terms.
Retaining the breeziness and the bold styling moves of V Magazine, VMAN put a masculine twist on the formula, smartly realising that its target readership were not going to be put off by a less pedestrian approach to men’s fashion, indeed, quite the opposite. Staying true to a the mix of fashion, culture, music, celebrity and lifestyle, VMAN is particularly notable as an American title that operates from the position that its readership is educated and interested in the world outside. Somewhat unusually for a successful American title – given the traditional difficulties in attracting a popular American audience with content from outside its borders – VMAN is one of the few titles that manages to retain its strong roots in its native NYC whilst regularly offering its urbane readership international content. And, just like its older sister, its work with top photographers, stylists and personalities has made it a hit not only at home, but also abroad. There is a certain irony that one of the world’s largest economies actually offers relatively few stylish, upmarket and forward thinking magazines to its male population. But VMAN is almost certainly the top title in that small and special group.
