Picture from La Sentinelle Facebook Page
MODE-K is back & fittingly so! Indeed, last week was marked by yet another turn in the small world of magazines in Mauritius. A men's magazine, dedicated entirely to men, to us and our lives, is FINALLY here, well almost. I did not hear much about it; wondering perhaps the fact that it is free somehow renders it impermeable to or unworthy of criticism. I just got my hands on a copy of the 44-page magazine and deemed it right to speak out, as a man, as a fashion enthusiast and, well, a blogger. Short, quickly-read and certainly interesting with regards to it being the pioneer of men's lifestyle magazine...but there's always more than what meets the eye! Apparently, we should never judge a book by its cover, but it seems that this life motto does not apply to magazines. A cover needs to be arresting, in all its terms. Using a bi-color theme with crimson red on black, Men's Style (MS) sets the tone as to the publication being sophisticate and elegant. Striking masculine traits flaunt themselves as representative of man with a capital M. Aside from the, honestly, quite appealing picture of middle-aged man (I guess it sets the target audience - or perhaps the fact that MS is distributed with Business Magazine should clear my doubts), we are offered headlines such as Voyage, Techno and a dossier about Hunting, other than, of course, the portrait of Mauritian tennis champion converted to businessman. Oh, and, on the right, and I almost missed it, a fashion section about DENIM Revolution (finally something to look forward!) Scrutinizing the team intro, you come to realize that the Editor in Chief and the Art Direction (Conception Artistique) are the only posts filled by men in this magazine, which is, should you forget it, basically for men. Should we already accept that, just as our mothers used to dress us, women will again direct our tastes to fit their own? Rapidly sifting through the first pages, I finally stumble on the fashion section, opening with a small yet helpful intro about Dress Codes. I found it insightful to start with somewhat 'educating' the masses out there. Truth to be told, I was invited to a private concert at the Racing Club last weekend and the invite card said "Tenue de Ville". Wikipedia quenched my interrogation about that dress code (shame on me!). Page 8, Street Style Oh, I did fall on some sort of fashion article on Page 8, although I am not sure of what to make of it. It's titled Street Style. It talks about men bags and what women think of them, in Men's Style. Hmm... Where's that logic? Headlining are four pictures of totally unwearable men bag (okay, I won't be unreasonable - the most difficult to wear ones), the first one being Gucci's over-sized men purse, second one is a Burberry Prorsum over-sized carrier bag, followed by a dark plum men bag and a vintage-looking Louis Vuitton one. Great, more exposure to brands which are not available in Mauritius. Where's that logic? Anyway, let's count them as inspirational gifts for us urban men of today. So, MS's line of thought says that we apparently dress up because of what women thinks. Being a fashion enthusiast, I think it comes from the intrinsic will to look and feel good. End of. Adding to that are two short comments from, wait for it, women. Alexandra Webber Issacs, the now-fully settled and reputed trendsetter, is understandably au rendezvous - fair enough. But did we really need an all-girls' perspective? Is there no representative of menswear out there? To the right is MS's version of Street Style: a fully-staged photograph! Now they are taking innovation to another level. Without being disrespectful, the title suggest street fashion to all fashionistas out there. Turning Street Style into 'styling for urban men' or 'what to wear to go out' rather than bring in real fashion from the streets is rather disappointing. It would have been a nice way of gauging men and style in Mauritius. Oh, MS completes the page with, finally, options you can actually buy on the local market. I mean, nearly. The average price of the three bags rounds up to Rs 10 920! Where's the logic? The Fashion Section, as declared on the cover, talks about the DENIM Revolution. Take a look. (I do have to apologize for the poor quality - my scanner is out on repair and, well, my camera, is crap!) One question: where's the DENIM? I was looking forward to a plethora of denim pieces, put forward in an edgy, new light but all I got are few allusions to the denim. The double-spread is bold and, quite frankly, the Deputy Managing Direction of GFA Insurance, did not do a bad job for a novice (assuming he this is a one-off!). This being the only photograph portraying denim on denim, the black and white effect sorts of kills the buzz. My guess is that it was the only way to use this outfit. I mean, the shirt looks light, the pair of jeans look dry while the tie looks satin-shiny. Oh-no.The first real look shows like 5 cm of denim on a whole look. Masked by a nice-looking yet a size too big khaki sweater, a solid blazer and a dark shoulder-strap bag, the denim is clearly undermined. Needless to mention the use of the blazer, which I believe is wrong. Men simply do not wear blazers this way. Not only is it flattering, but it is also impractical. Perhaps her intervention on May's edition of Lifestyle influenced her. THAT was a GREAT shoot btw! The second look is a jeans-suit combination; one of the hardest to pull off. Perhaps the shirt should not have been buttoned up to the neck for it looks unfinished. The third shows a truly distasteful blazer with a washed denim print lapel on a thinly striped fabric. Sorry, but not to be worn. The last is probably the most disappointing of them all - with in mind that famous model converted into fashion editor Anne-Lise Ramooloo styled the shoot - the blazer is too large, the white shirt is TUCKED IN, the belt, shoes and bags DO NOT match and the jeans are pulled up, WAY UP! Everything about this picture is awfully unflattering.
The Fashion section ends with a one-page men bracelet, which, I believe does not match the target audience. First, it's too young and street style (this time, the real way) for middle-aged men to buy. They are nonetheless very nice bracelets from Trollbeads. Good find, yet wrong place. To be noted that not a single price is featured in the fashion section. Not very helpful, yet perhaps in line with the policy of Fashion Style Mauritius which is the distributor of many of the brands featured in the magazine. I'll end on a sweet note with their selection of wines on Page 32. MS has options for one-night stands, first real date, marriage proposal dinner, patching things us,and even for breaking up. This was fun to read. Bref, all in all, for a free sample, this was mildly entertaining. Perhaps me being a young man proves that my tastes are not in line with the magazine's view of menswear and this is why I found Men's Style's first issue deceiving. Have you seen it? Read it? Liked it? Let me know in the comments below! Sine Cera DISCLAIMER: No Copyright Infringements were intended with any of the videos and pictures on this page.
5 Comments
9/20/2013 05:52:13 am
Nice and very interesting. Thank you for your sharing...........
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Fashion is a passion, writing another. So I thought - why not share them through a blog? Et voila! I hope you enjoy your time around here... |