GQ Personal Style with John Legend

GQ Personal Style with John Legend gets into the act as well and shares with readers his insights into fashion. Legend talks extensively about Kanye West and his unusual fashion of tattoo-inspired clothing. Definitely an interesting read from one of music’s best talents.

I think the first thing I bought was sneakers.

For my parents, at the time, a $40 pair of sneakers was kind of expensive, so if we wanted to buy them, we had to save up our allowance. I would buy whatever the coolest shoe of the time was. Do you remember British Knights?

My peers in the music business tend to wear sunglasses at the wrong time.

They overuse sunglasss at night and in the club. It makes you look uncool if you’re wearing them all the time – and why not look in people’s eyes when you talk to them?

We were all in the studio when Kanye said he wanted to do a song called ”Christian Dior Denim Flow”.

He wanted to represent the fashion, jet-setter life. He shouted out some of his favourite models – good thing he’s single right now! I couldn’t get away with that one.

I’ve been buying some Billy Reid stuff recently.

He has a really cool, Anglo-American style, leaning towards the rougher, work side of things. I just got this beautiful Alexander McQueen wool duffel coat. Gorgeous. I love it. It’s going to be my go-to coat for tough winters in New York.

The biggest style mistake men make?

I don’t like to name the brand but that tattoo-style clothing. I hate that stuff. It’s just like a marker saying, “I’m a douchebag.” Michael Jackson wore it but he could pull off costumey-type things. He was a superstar. He had a licence other people don’t have.

I thought I was a well-dressed student.

But when I look back now, no… That’s the thing about clothes – you think you’re looking good at the time. I thoughtI was a well-dressed dude. When I was in New York trying to get a record deal, I went through this super-funky phase where I grew my hair out and I tried to be a little more rock star than it was natural for me to be. The hair got big and it was dreaded up. You know those pictures of young Bob Marley before his dreads grew out? Natty fro!

Spike Lee has a great eye.

Do The Right Thing is a classic. I loved Malcolm X. 25th Hourwith Ed Norton was really good. I even loved the one he did with Clive Owen and Denzel Washington, Inside Man. He is awesome. And he’s not afraid to speak out.

No, I do not jog in Lanvin.

I doubt if Kanye does too. But it’s a good story. He’s good at myth-making, but a lot of it’s real. He likes telling it because it has a grandiosity.