BEFORE SITTING TO breakfast one morning earlier this year, Tremaine Emory moved cautiously through his airy Tribeca loft to put on a record. With each step towards the turntable, the metallic clank of his Lofstrand crutch echoed through the apartment. After he dropped the needle and the music began to play, he made his way to a big table in the middle of the room and took a seat. Emory was dressed cosy in a mostly unbuttoned shirt, flannel pants, and a pair of all-black Hokas. He wore a Martine Rose cap, bill to the back.
"It's been a fucking journey, man," he said. "It's been a war. The second-hardest thing I've ever dealt with, next to my mom dying."
As the melodies of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers drifted around us, Emory told me about his year. It's been a remarkable one. After a while, the music would fade and the record would spin in silence, and his words would continue, filling the space between us with the story of his epic year of struggle and triumph.
If you've read anything about Emory in the last few months, chances are you might be surprised to know that the war the celebrated fashion designer was describing had little to do with the headlines he'd made this year, or the discourse he'd sparked in the worlds of fashion and art about systemic racism. It had nothing to do with Supreme, the streetwear behemoth, where he'd served as its first-ever publicly confirmed creative director until a bitter split in August ended his 18-month tenure-and nothing to do with his public criticism of the company and the discourse that still circulates online and offline about the gatekeeping of Black creativity.
Denne historien er fra December 2023 - January 2024-utgaven av GQ India.
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Denne historien er fra December 2023 - January 2024-utgaven av GQ India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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In Haider We Hope
The role of a fashion designer is one usually forged in chaos and fired down by “creative differences”. But on the eve of a new Tom Ford directorship, Haider Ackermann has never felt more free.
VIVA VARUN
Varun Dhawan on balancing fatherhood and film shoots, and the pressure of making the right choices.
PRATIK GANDHI'S QUIET EUPHORIA
The actor―who delivered a knockout performance in Madgaon Expresson the high of a hit and the pressure of sustaining success.
THE COMEBACK KID
Buoyed by his performance in Singham Returns, Arjun Kapoor doubles down on creativity.
SCRIPTING STARDOM
Vicky Kaushal on the thrill and terror of stepping onto a Sanjay Leela Bhansali set, charting an unconventional career, and making sense of the money game.
A TRYST WITH STARDOM
Triptii Dimri segued from her left-field roots straight to the animal park. The gamble has paid off.
WALKING A TIGHTROPE
Following the monster success of Stree 2, Rajkummar Rao opens up about navigating artistic fulfilment and box-office glory.
THE MAHARAJA OF MEHRAULI
It's been an action-packed year for Tarun Tahiliani, the emperor of Indian couture.
LONE WARRIOR
Kartik Aaryan on why, in an industry that only watches out for its own, he has to blow his own trumpet.
HITS AND HEARTBREAKS
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali talks about redeeming himself with the extraordinary Chamkila, dealing with star-studded setbacks, and why we've forgotten to make love stories.
