
Virile, image obsessed, glossy and provocative, 40′sh Tyler Brûlé has made “enigma” his job description. The native Winnipegger and footballer’s son achieved his first publishing coup as creator of the much-lauded Wallpaper* magazine. Not content to stick with a sure thing, Brûlé sold the glossy in 1997 and embarked on writing for the Financial Times, The New York Times and the like. In 2005, he tackled television, hosting BBC’s The Desk. His current endeavour, Monocle, is not as cerebral as it sounds. The international monthly magazine navigates the globe with ease, using current affairs, business, culture and design as its compass points. Now, if we could just steer Brûlé in a more personal direction …
Adrian Mainella
You travel upwards of 240 days a year, which begs the question: Can you be a jetsetter and have romance in your life?
Tyler Brûlé
“You can. I think that is part of the fantasy, though, as well.”
AM
And so many designers try to emulate that lifestyle.
TB
“People still try to emulate Halston.”
AM
I imagine that the idea of romance has changed quite a bit since then, especially in the media.
TB
“Yeah, it’s the watching of media and the conventions of media…Take Tom Ford’s current campaign or the last campaign, where there is a sort of vulgarity…part of our brand is not sort of touchy feely sexy, you know.”
AM
There are some incredibly sexy elements in what you do.
TB
“Sexy elements, but what we want to show is a nice narrative in fashion, with great clothes on a good-looking guy. We want to say, if you want one evening dress or one bag, this is what it is, and put them on people who are—I wouldn’t say fuckable—just attractive-looking people.”
AM
What is sex appeal to you?
TB
“Let’s come back to that. I have to think.”
AM
What do you think your reader finds sexy?
TB
“Come back to that as well. It’s one and the same.”
AM
One and the same? You’re that in touch with your reader?
TB
“I think so. I think I read the room pretty well. [Brûlé points to a marketing sheet outlining the demographics of Monocle readers. An attractive man and woman are pictured in the middle of the page.] Like this document is not how we present ourselves normally, but…”
AM
You’re the man who judges the best cities in the world to live in—which do you believe to be the sexiest city?
TB
“If the sun is out, I think Copenhagen is a sexy city. I love that people are cycling, but not dressed for a purpose — elegant bicycle, elegant outfit as opposed to being on some Cannondale like you’re going to hurtle down a mountain even though you’re just commuting to the office. Sexy cities afford you the maximum amount of experiences across the course of the day, which means you get the minimum amount of friction between your Pierre Hardys and whatever’s under your foot. And I think that’s what makes Copenhagen.”
AM
Would it also have the sexiest people?
TB
“I think Danes are pretty good-looking, you know?”
AM
If you were given $25 to romance somebody, how would you spend it?
TB
“Canadian dollars? It’s all the same now, isn’t it?”
AM
£25.
TB
“£25. I won’t accept that. That’ll be five copies [referring to the cost of a Monocle issue]. I would buy a book and it would be E.H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.”
AM
Why that book?
TB
“Because it’s a great adult’s storybook and it’s got this childlike quality even though the topics are very grown-up. It’s a great refresher course on humanity and romance.”
AM
Would you define yourself a little bit like that as well—a grownup with childlike qualities?
TB
“No, just childlike qualities.”