On the occasion of the release of the book The Parisian Gentleman, in praise of French elegance , Hugo Jacomet gave us the pleasure of a visit.
We no longer introduce him to you, his blog Parisian Gentleman is, more than a monument of sartorial erudition, a reference.
Credits Rose Callahan.
We were able to interview him on a whole bunch of subjects, his current affairs, his projects and his approach to men's fashion.
A chance because Hugo very rarely gives video interviews... except here! From memory, I don't think he was ever interviewed on video for the release of his book.
Release of the book The Parisian Gentleman
The transition from digital to paper books is, for a blogger, a step that is as exciting as it is risky. It’s a sort of reward, we are in a pretty good position to talk about it .
Hugo, with his usual charisma, details the creation of this book, but not only:
So, what do we find in this book?
No need to prolong the suspense, it's a magnificent book, with splendid iconography and very well written. Barely released, it is already destined to become cult.
If you like Hugo Jacomet's very particular tone in each of his articles, you will be in heaven for several hours. Imagine, it’s as if we were offering you 250 pages (!!!) of unpublished articles written by Hugo, in one go 🙂
Page after page, the reader penetrates, intimidated, into the heart of what France knows how to do best in men's luxury: Cifonelli , John Lobb , Courtot or Moynat , there are around twenty French Houses which are generously deciphered. You may be surprised by the history of certain brands, which we believed to be 100% Italian-Italian...
In general, you will learn:
- How Smalto revolutionized costume,
- The great war which pitted the French House of Weston against its cross-Channel rival Church's,
- What is the relationship between Aubercy shoes and the Bagatelle gymnasium,
- Cifonelli's four principles for having fitted suits, allowing great freedom of movement,
- What is the Parisian style of Camps de Luca?
- The untold and complete story of the creation of Parisian Gentleman,
- And many more...
It's difficult to deny all the involvement and care that Hugo showed in writing his book!
As Hugo says “this book comes to right an injustice”. Which ? Don't talk about Paris - the capital of elegance - by only referring to women's fashion.
However, for several decades, Maisons of excellence have been creating marvels, far from glitz and flashy luxury. Men's fashion is also entitled to a tribute worthy of the name!
Let's recognize one thing, we are holding a very beautiful object in our hands, a beautiful baby that weighs 2.6 kilos.
This large size is very practical for appreciating the beauty of the work of Andy Julia, the photographer who has accompanied Hugo since the beginning. No less than 350 original photographs make up the book, a titanic work!
To know everything about the Smalto house... (Credits: Andy Julia)
And we are far from the icy images that we are bombarded with in marketing campaigns . Here, the pieces are each time very nicely photographed.
The Corthay house and its elegantly designed shoes. (Credits: Andy Julia)
A personal work for Hugo Jacomet
Throughout the pages, Hugo's passion as well as his own artistic approach are revealed . For example, we gradually understand what, in Simonnot Godard for example, made "tilt". Lovers of fashion and history will find something to dream or think about.
We therefore highly recommend reading it, if we cannot offer you all the treasures on display immediately. It’s definitely a great Christmas gift to give (to yourself). A big congratulations to Hugo who has just written THE reference book on our beautiful French Houses.
If you like even a little the famous Cifonelli shoulder, the "plunged" shape of the "end" of a Corthay, the hand rolling of a Simonnot Godard handkerchief, or even the Smalto notch (in short, all the great figures of "PG mythology"), it's difficult to resist this work... In any case, we are impatiently awaiting its spiritual sequel, The Italian Gentleman !
Bonus: two videos
Hugo being a high-level popularizer and an enthusiast, you can imagine that we made some parentheses during the interview, they are very interesting.
He will give you his opinion on the evolution of the shoe offering:
...and he will end up deciphering the changes in the offer of men's suits (and you will see, the news is good):
