English Summary
Editor’s Letter
By Igor Garanin
Sometimes it so happens that life presents us with an opportunity we can’t possibly turn down. Yes, you have a crazy schedule, you’re always rushing, catching up, finishing something, you don’t have time for everything, you’re running late, you’re in a hurry. And all of a sudden something inside you rings out, tinkling softly: you have to. You have to put aside all your urgent affairs, cancel your meetings, delay all the undelayable things, because this kind of opportunity comes just once in a lifetime. That was the case with the hero of this month’s issue, Ralph Lauren. During Milan Fashion Week in June this year, Ralph Lauren representatives offered me an interview with the founder of the fashion house. I reacted calmly to the idea, as a work routine. Typically, dreams of a big project by the PR team and the editor are dashed by the reality of just how busy the designer is and his inability to meet in person. Such stories end with presentations of photographs from the archive and quotes from a press release. Two months later, they called me to say that out of all the glossy magazines in the world, Mr. Ralph Lauren decided to give an in-person interview to GQ Russia alone, and invited me to New York. Moreover, he was prepared to be photographed for our cover. It was the middle of the most intense production period: photo shoots for GQ’s People of the Year, preparations for the ceremony, and other summer delights, but I couldn’t not go. There are not so many great designers of our era left: Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren. They changed the way people think. They made the fashion industry what we know it as today. All of its laws and rules were written by them. Everything that seems standard practice now was thought up by them. To hell with doubts: I go into online mode, and fly out to New York for one day. According to plan, we’ll shoot Ralph Lauren in the morning for the November cover. Ralph appears at the set right on time. We have everything ready. Warm, friendly words. The photographer takes a few snaps, and then more and more. After each, Lauren approaches the monitor’s screen and takes a look at how it turned out. After no more than ten minutes, the picture is ready. Quick, precise, confident. He checks to make sure that I’m happy with the result, and then goes forth to command his $7 billion empire. In the afternoon, we meet again in the designer’s office. I’ll never forget that conversation. He’s charming and instantly winsome. He’s curious, interested. He notices everything, has a subtle awareness of time. He’s a visionary. They don’t make them like that anymore.