Q&A with The Rakish Gent
We sat down with Taj Hayer, the founder and driving force behind men's magazine The Rakish Gent to find out his thoughts on style, fashion, and everything in between.
1. A day in the life of being the Rakish Gent. How does it start?
Every day is so different! Often days begin with checking emails and the schedule, attending any meetings that have been diarised and then developing new content – whether that be commissioning new written content or working on shooting new editorial content.
2. Ambition or talent – Which one is more important in your opinion?
For me, it has to be ambition. I could never claim to be the most talented writer, editor or stylist but I think I have a strong voice and vision and the ambition to carry those ideas into practice.
3. How did the idea of the Rakish Gent first appear and develop?
It came about after reading a great deal of men’s magazines and disliking the voice that they had. I often found that I felt “less than” if I didn’t know or couldn’t afford some of the products or brands that were being talked about. Similarly, with editorial content, so many often lacked any sense of realism. The goal was to create an intelligent, easy to read online men’s magazine that didn’t ever talk down to readers and had a strong editorial vision that was aspirational but realistic at the same time.
4. Your style: How would you define it, and what it means to you?
My personal style is pretty clean and minimal. I like simple shapes, colours and lines and think that there is little that can go wrong with a well fitted white T shirt, great pair of trousers and a clean, white sneakers.
5. Favourite part of your job, and why?
Definitely when we work on editorial content for The Rakish Gent. I spent a lot of time working with brands that we really love, looking through their collections and seeing what they have done in the past, to enable us to create our vision of what that brand means for us.
6. You walk out of this interview, only to find a million dollar blank cheque. What do you do with it?
Invest in art and property. Gift generously to charity, family and friends and head straight for Selfridges to get the new horsebit, backless, brown leather Gucci loafers!
1. A day in the life of being the Rakish Gent. How does it start?
Every day is so different! Often days begin with checking emails and the schedule, attending any meetings that have been diarised and then developing new content – whether that be commissioning new written content or working on shooting new editorial content.
2. Ambition or talent – Which one is more important in your opinion?
For me, it has to be ambition. I could never claim to be the most talented writer, editor or stylist but I think I have a strong voice and vision and the ambition to carry those ideas into practice.
3. How did the idea of the Rakish Gent first appear and develop?
It came about after reading a great deal of men’s magazines and disliking the voice that they had. I often found that I felt “less than” if I didn’t know or couldn’t afford some of the products or brands that were being talked about. Similarly, with editorial content, so many often lacked any sense of realism. The goal was to create an intelligent, easy to read online men’s magazine that didn’t ever talk down to readers and had a strong editorial vision that was aspirational but realistic at the same time.
4. Your style: How would you define it, and what it means to you?
My personal style is pretty clean and minimal. I like simple shapes, colours and lines and think that there is little that can go wrong with a well fitted white T shirt, great pair of trousers and a clean, white sneakers.
5. Favourite part of your job, and why?
Definitely when we work on editorial content for The Rakish Gent. I spent a lot of time working with brands that we really love, looking through their collections and seeing what they have done in the past, to enable us to create our vision of what that brand means for us.
6. You walk out of this interview, only to find a million dollar blank cheque. What do you do with it?
Invest in art and property. Gift generously to charity, family and friends and head straight for Selfridges to get the new horsebit, backless, brown leather Gucci loafers!