All Access: Closet Capers

JAY-Z HIP-HOP ARTIST

What’s your philosophy when it comes to personal style?

My thing is just to keep it plain and simple. That’s how the [Rocawear] line developed–relaxed, clean lines, crispy.

Whose style do you most admire?

J.F.K. He was classic.

You’ve gone from wearing athletic jerseys to donning suits and button-down shirts. Why the shift?

You can’t be running around in jerseys when you’re 30 years old.

Whose suits do you wear?

I wear a lot of Ralph Lauren Purple Label, but the best suit for me as far as fit is Armani.

What’s the most prized possession in your closet?

I have the jacket from the [Madison Square] Garden [show] in my closet right now. I look at it often.

Fans scrutinize your wardrobe. Do you think about that when you’re getting dressed?

Naw. I just do what I do. It’s amazing to me how sometimes I’ll do something and then I’ll see it. A long time ago, when I was wearing Iceberg T shirts, I would go to concerts, and everyone would have on Iceberg T shirts, and I’m like, What’s going on here?

What’s the trend now?

Now I’ll go to a concert, and everyone will have on button-up shirts. It’s crazy. It’s a phenomenon. It’s funny how that happened.

FREDERIC FEKKAI CELEBRITY HAIR STYLIST

When do you wake up?

Today I got up at 5:30 and went to a Gyrotonic class. I do that three times a week. Then I go home, get ready, have breakfast. It takes me about 40 minutes to get ready.

What’s in your medicine cabinet?

I have Band-Aids, shaving cream with an old-fashioned brush, homeopathic toothpaste from France, Pour Monsieur by Chanel cologne, a little crystal stone that’s made to be used as deodorant or for razor burn. I use Frederic Fekkai gel and glossing cream and a wide-tooth detangler comb.

Are there products you can’t live without?

Cologne, because it lifts my spirit, and shaving cream and a razor, because I can’t stand my beard.

What makes you cringe?

I dislike profusely when men’s pants are really low waisted. I can’t stand shirts with so many designs and stripes and colors. I hate hair spray on men, and I don’t like ponytails on men with long hair.

What do you wear to work?

A lilac blue shirt, usually from Thomas Pink or Turnbull & Asser, with navy blue pants. For shoes I love Tod’s and Berluti in Paris.

Where do you shop?

Bergdorf [Goodman] is one of my favorites, and also Barneys. After that, I love little boutiques like Seize sur Vingt [on Elizabeth Street].

Whose personal style do you most admire?

Cary Grant’s and Tom Ford’s–and I love Puff Daddy. I think he actually dresses quite well.

HEDI SLIMANE DIOR HOMME DESIGNER

Do you have a “uniform”?

I tend to naturally wear a black jacket, a white shirt and a pair of jeans. I have five dozen black jackets, mostly tuxedo jackets, and twice that number of shirts, but I’m afraid it always looks the same.

What is it about that look that appeals to you so much?

I like tailoring a lot, and I am so used to wearing a jacket. It is like a protection or a second skin. I suppose the white shirt helps me focus. It doesn’t say much but structure and clean lines.

Do those same principles drive your collections?

I work with a set of rules, a system, that sometimes I try to subvert. But then it naturally all comes back to that sense of structure and lines, to a more minimal approach.

Will you ever move to New York City?

I am thinking more and more about moving to New York and working in Paris. In a way, I feel more at ease in New York with my way of designing and working on concept.

Whose personal style do you most admire?

It is hard for me to say because it is also a [person’s] way of thinking that has elegance to it. I liked Samuel Beckett. [He had] a true elegance. I am really fond of music, and rock music in particular–Paul Weller [in] the Jam period, Bowie [in] the Thin White Duke period. But this is already somehow a “fashion” idea of style. Style has to do with lifestyle. It is a total idea, an almost religious idea.