Mr Brightside

He’s the clown pimp in luxury fashion. Better yet, Justin O’Shea is putting men back into menswear.

- Richard Clune

Justin O’Shea is the physical embodiment of the egalitarianism that’s sweeping though the luxury houses. “Accessible luxury” sure, it’s a buzzword. Hell, it’s arguably an oxymoron, but it’s also a sartorial concept central to the contemporary outlook of top-tier brands collectively pushing broader than ever before.

Look at Kenzo which, in 2011, started to reposition (read: explore a wider range of price points) under the creative stewardship of Opening Ceremony cool kids Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. Then there’s Louis Vuitton’s installation of Kim Jones and his announcement of a new line of men’s denim a few months back.

And now Brioni, a once-staid Italian out fitter, which, under the creative direction of O’Shea (the suited and bearded Australian who walks with a pimp’s swagger and swears like a sailor), debuted a collection that featured, alongside $9,000 suits, the likes of “wife beaters” his words.

See, that’s the thing about this 37-year- old from Nhulunbuy in Australia he’s real. Unaffected. The ultimate accessible gatekeeper to a luxury label; a well- established “street style star” with a marketable following far removed from the buttoned-up, designer Belgians who spend weekends espousing, at some considerable length, the importance of 17th century sculpture.

Not O’Shea he’s the man who, within minutes of talking to GQ, is outing a fondness for a solid night of beer and shenanigans with the “boys”; the same man who announced his arrival on the scene by unveiling rockers Metallica as the faces of Brioni’s new direction.