A Portfolio of Parisian Men

July, Paris. Five men have just entered a building on Avenue Jean Moulin. Two artists, a designer, a musician and an actor, a writer and model: Alex Foxton, Jonathan Binet, Romain Turzi, Elie Top and Didier Vinson. Each of them exude a sense of refinement, the kind you’d expect – but in reality, rarely encounter – in Parisian men. They’re here to be shot for the A/W17 issue of Another Man, photographed by Julia Hetta and styled by Hannes Hetta in the A/W17 Berluti collection – Colombian-born designer Haider Ackermann’s debut for the brand. “I’m still searching but what I wanted to give him was, not a nonchalance, but a kind of easiness. I wanted him to be at ease,” said Ackermann in an interview with Another Man, speaking on his fantasy man. “The Berluti man is travelling all over the world, so there should always be a comfort to everything he wears… My own brand is simpler because that man is just a daydreamer, a vagabond, but the Berluti man is more of an imposing figure – for me, at least...” These five men embody this fantasy man – the easiness, the travelling, and the daydreaming. Here, alongside images from Hetta’s shoot, we meet these intriguing men.

DIDIER VINSON

FULL NAME: Didier Jean-Philippe Vinson.

BIRTHDATE & PLACE: September 10, 1964, in Paris, France.

PERSONAL DATA: Height, 6’3”; Hair, brown; Eyes, green.

UNIVERSITY: Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.

JOB: Actor, writer and model. I worked in business for 15 years, but quit when I was 40 in order to become an actor and playwright.

FAVOURITE PLAY: Le Misanthrope (1666) by Molière. It’s about not compromising – something that I try to apply to my career.

FAVOURITE FILM: Once Upon A Time In America (1984) by Sergio Leone. It’s about love, friendship, success and failure. It has everything. And I desperately love the music, the direction, and the actors. I could watch it over and over again.

FAVOURITE ACTOR: I have many, but I like Ricky Gervais because he’s so funny. I also liked Alan Rickman. He moved me, and I don’t think he had the career he deserved.

FAVOURITE ACTRESS: Isabelle Huppert because she is both frightening and seducing. She’s a woman, and yet so much more than a woman.

WHERE DIDIER LIKES TO GO ON HOLIDAY: Avignon, France, because of the theatre festival there. Theatres are everywhere. Even in garages. There must be 1,400 plays running at the same time. I go every year.

ELIE TOP

FULL NAME: Elie Robert Edmond Top.

BIRTHDATE & PLACE: December 19, 1976, in Hazebrouck, France.

PERSONAL DATA: Height, 6’0”; Hair, brown; Eyes, brown.

UNIVERSITY: L'École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

JOB: Designer.

FAVOURITE WORK OF ART: Salomé (1876) by Gustave Moreau.

FAVOURITE ARTIST OR DESIGNER: Jean Desprez (the perfumer).

FAVOURITE SHOP: Librairie Galignani in Paris.

FAVOURITE POSSESSION: Two enormous flowerpots from the turn of the century.

WHERE ELIE GOES TO GET INSPIRED: My kitchen!

ALEX FOXTON

FULL NAME: Alexander James Foxton.

BIRTHDATE & PLACE: February 4, 1980, in Eye, Suffolk.

PERSONAL DATA: Height 6’2”; Hair, brown; Eyes, brown.

UNIVERSITY: Central Saint Martins.

JOB: Freelance designer and visual artist. [I use] clothes, paint, pens and pencils – anything that makes a mark on a piece of paper or surface.

FAVOURITE ACTOR: Jack Nicholson, because he’s the most charming person who has ever lived.

FAVOURITE ACTRESS: Faye Dunaway, because she’s the toughest bitch who has ever lived.

WHERE ALEX GOES TO GET INSPIRED: My head. I get inspired everywhere.

WHERE ALEX LIKES TO GO ON HOLIDAY: Vals in Switzerland. There are thermal baths there, which are amazing. I usually go there once a year.

ALEX’S IDEA OF A PERFECT DATE: A picnic at the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

JONATHAN BINET

FULL NAME: Jonathan Binet.

BIRTHDATE & PLACE: November 14, 1984, in Saint-Priest, France.

PERSONAL DATA: 5’9”; Hair, black; Eyes, brown.

UNIVERSITY: École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

JOB: Artist.

FAVOURITE ARTIST: Walter Swennen.

FAVOURITE WORK OF ART: Pay Attention (1973) by Bruce Nauman.

FAVOURITE SHOP: Nature en Ville, where I go for fruit and vegetables.

FAVOURITE POSSESSION: A little origami frog made with tweezers by my grandpa, which lives in a tiny glass bottle.

WHERE JONATHAN GOES TO GET INSPIRED: Riding around on my bicycle.

ROMAIN TURZI

FULL NAME: Romain Turzi.

BIRTHDATE & PLACE: May 30, 1979, in Versailles, France.

PERSONAL DATA: Height, 5’9”; Hair, brown; Eyes, brown.

UNIVERSITY: Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.

JOB: Proud parent of my ten-year-old daughter. I create music (the less influenced I am, the better). I also improvise, and play for hours at a time. I sell art books too. And I’m a full-time single person.

FAVOURITE ARTIST: The creator, but I don’t believe in God.

FAVOURITE WORK OF ART: Nature, because I feel so shy in front of it. Nothing compares to what was made all those years ago.

FAVOURITE GALLERY: I don’t go to galleries, except for free drinks.

FAVOURITE SHOP: Boulangerie Carton on Rue de Buci.

WHERE ROMAIN GOES TO GET INSPIRED: On the tube, in my studio, in the arms of a beautiful lady, or beside a bottle of wine.

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Hair Christian Eberhard at Julian Watson; Set design Sophie Glasser at Talent and Partner; Casting Piotr Chamier; Models Didier Vinson at Elite Paris, Jonathan Binet at Balice Hertling Gallery, Alex Foxton, Elie Top, Romain Turzi; Photographic assistant Henri de Carvalho; Digital technician Mitko Frangov; Styling assistant Salomé Rouquet; Casting assistant Olivia Langner; Set design assistant Nicolas Mur; Retouching August Rehnberg; Productino Michaël Lacomblez at Louis2 Paris.