Exclusive Interview: Tom Ford

Modern Man Contents

p.4 G Force 1: Zero Gravity.

p.67 11 Places to Visit This Summer.

p5 10 Things Wom-en Look For.

p.54 Tips on Getting Rid of a Hangover

p.19 Best Techno-logical advances in 2015.

p.35 Natural Health Products.

p.15 How to Get Ready for a Big Event.

The Zero Gravity Corporation has been given the thumbs up by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct weightless flights for the general public, providing the sensation of floating in space.

Tickets are on sale for around $3,000.A specially modified Boeing 727-200 air-

craft, called G-Force One, will be used during a nationwide tour Sept. 14-24.

We kick off a two-week tour with Zero-G flights in New York City, Los Angeles, Reno, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit and Florida, Peter Dia-mandis, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the company, told SPACE.com.

The kick-off flights will carry select con-sumers and guests, the company announced today. The first flight was slated today to depart from Newark Airport in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

Trips available for everyone else start in October.

Diamandis said in a press statement that his firm has teamed up with Diet Rite to provide Americans with the first opportunity to experience the fun and exhilarating feeling of weightlessness, an experience previously available only to astronauts.

The Zero-G Experience offers a full-day program led by a veteran astronaut. Each flyer -- the customer -- experiences Martian gravity (1/3 Earths gravity, referred to as g), lunar

gravity (1/6 g) and zero gravity, the sensation of floating freely with no pull from terra firma.

In order for passengers in a plane to experience a free fall safely, the aircraft must climb at a steep angle, level off, and then dive, creating a path called a parabolic arc, also called a Keplerian Trajectory or free-fall path. In a true parabolic arc, the only accelerative force is gravity pulling in a vertical direction -- horizontal velocity remains constant. Because of air resistance, objects in Earths atmosphere only travel in arcs that approximate a true parabola.

Typically, ZERO-Gs plane, called G-FORCE-ONE, flies between 24,000 and 32,000 feet altitude. This gives the pilot enough room to maneuver the plane safely through its flight path. The planes descent must start at a high altitude to provide enough distance for the pilot to safely pull out of a dive. As the plane climbs to the peak of its arc, the pilot orients it at a 45-degree angle. During the climb, the planes acceleration and the force of gravity create a pull 1.8 times the strength of gravity alone -- passengers tempo-rarily weigh nearly twice as much as normal.

The parabolic flight patterns temporarily counteract Earths gravity, creating weight-lessness for several seconds on each of several passes.

The experience is exhilarating and dis-

concerting, according to a reporter who rode a similar NASA plane known as the Vomit Comet.

Diamandis began his quest to commer-cialize zero-gravity airplane flights in the mid-1990s and, in 2000, provided zero-g flights for the film industry. The Zero Gravity Corpora-tion is headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida. Its flight operations are conducted out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

After you book your flight, the company will mail you a packet of information and forms to fill out. Forms include a waiver and statement that you are not suffering from any conditions or illnesses that could become worse during the flight. Some passengers may need to obtain a doctors permission before the company allows them to go on the experience.

On the day of your flight, youll travel to the appropriate location -- normally either McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas or the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once youre at the airport, youll have to check in with the flight center where youll receive your own flight suit.

G Force 1:ZeroGravity

Tom FordA Modern Man

Tom Fords entry into the menswear market was very well-timed indeed. After a short, sharp fall in luxury spending following the financial crisis of 2008, it was not long before he was driving a surge of demand in the luxury menswear market, which according to consultants Bain & Company, has been growing at 12-16

percent per year since 2010, even faster than womenswear.

When Tom Ford was 14 years old, he was wor-ried about bags under his eyes. So young Tom went to his kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico, chopped up some cucumber slices, placed them on his eyelids and sat back, waiting for them to take effect. But after a few moments, his face began to feel tingly and then the skin around his eyes puffed up alarmingly. He was allergic to cucumber and had to be whisked off to hospital to regain his sight.

There are lots of strange stories about Ford, the 51-year-old fashion designer and film-maker, and the funny and sometimes alarming thing is that they are almost all true. When he first met Gwyneth Paltrow, he did, indeed, ask to father her children. During an interview with AA Gill, he suggested just after hed said that every man should have a penis in his bottom at least once in his life to know what all the fuss is about they conduct their conversation naked. And thats exactly what they did.

A recent favourite of mine was the whisper that he had five baths a day. Is that a myth? he was asked at an industry event in New York. If Im sending emails and I get all wound up and stressed and dont know what to do with myself for 20 minutes, I just go soak in hot water and lie there, thinking, What should I do? explained Ford. So its meditative. He stopped just short of shaking his head and saying: Wait a minute, you dont take five baths a day? Some people

Ford, the person, has always been a peerless advertisement for the clothes he makes for both men and women. When he is not naked his preferred state at home he wears a slim-fit, single-breasted dark suit with a crisp white shirt that slips buttons the longer the evening goes on. Not since Coco Chanel has a fashion designer so singularly embodied the spirit of their creations. He is sexy, playful and flamboyant and you can be, too, if you wear his designs.

For almost three decades now, Ford has also retained an unerring ability to stay in the spotlight. Tonight, at the Bafta awards, many of the nominees will be wearing Tom Ford on the red carpet: his office is reluctant to release names but Bradley Cooper and Daniel Craig, whom Ford dressed in Skyfall, are admirers of his slick tailoring.

Then, on 18 February at 7pm, Ford will present his new womens collection, a catwalk show that is the most awaited event of Lon-don fashion week. The designers decision to conduct his latest reveal in London is, in fash-ion circles, akin to the city winning a bid to host the Olympic Games and the World Cup. It follows Ford presenting his new menswear line in the capital last month. His decision to leave Milan is said to have annoyed the Italians no end.

Only a few details have trickled out about Fords show. The most salient one is that he is widening the guest list, though, before you take your best frock to the dry-cleaners, only a little. Previous presentations have been elite, starry affairs. At the first for his own label, in 2010, Ford took on the MC duties himself, introducing each model as she strode down

the runway. He said to Joan Smalls that she might have turned him straight and then told Beyonc that she definitely had.

For London fashion week, though, he has grander plans. This is going to be for 500 to 1,000 people. Photographers, bloggers a regular, real show, Ford said recently. I want to show in London because now I have 100 stores worldwide. The company has jumped and I can no longer service the stores by not showing. So I have to love it and embrace it.

If Ford could sound more excited, it is be-cause the new show might involve him doing what he likes least in the world: surrendering a modicum of control. Dont be fooled into thinking that he just lies in the tub all day. As the creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, Ford designed 16 collections a year for more than a decade. He oversaw every element of the way the clothes looked and how the shops were laid out. He has been known to conduct spot checks on the cupboards of his employees and there is hell to pay if they are not immaculate.

I am a perfectionist, Ford said in 1996, as he was breaking through. This job is a total ego thing in a way. To be a designer and say, This is the way they should dress; this is the way their homes should look; this is the way the world should be. But then, thats the goal: world domination through style.

As the cucumber experi-ment shows, Thomas Carlyle Ford had an interest in fashion and beauty from an early age. He was born into a Presbyterian household in Texas his parents were in real estate and his first muse was his grandmoth-er. She was incredibly stylish, she had big hair, big cars, he recalled. I was probably three years old, but she was like a cartoon character. Shed swoop into our lives with presents and boxes. She always had the latest things.

This grandmother later became the inspi-ration for Charley, Julianne Moores character, in Fords 2009 film, A Single Man. Although the idea for the story came from a Christo-pher Isherwood novel, Ford heavily tweaked the characters to make them autobiograph-ical. It really was my midlife crisis on the screen, he admitted.

As a student, Ford dabbled in architec-ture, acting and fashion and spent his eve-nings in Studio 54 in the early 1980s before starting to work with American designers. During this time, he met his partner, style journalist Richard Buckley, 13 years his senior, and they are still together more than a quarter of a century later. I went to a fashion show and this silver-haired guy was staring at me with these piercing water-blue eyes, Ford said. It scared me because I absolutely saw

It really was my midlife crisis on the screen.

and knew my entire future.In 1990, aged 29, Ford got his break, when

he was asked to become the chief womens designer at Gucci. The Italian label was in a deep rut, close to bankruptcy; it was known for outmoded leather goods and turned over around 150m a year. When Ford left, in 2004, it was a powerhouse worth 2bn or more that also encompassed Yves Saint Laurent and Brit-ish designers Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. He curated the first real high-end global fashion brand, according to the New York Times.

There were many iconic pieces over the years Guccis velvet hip-huggers and the Jackie bag, and a 70s-inspired peasant blouse

for YSL but it was the advertising that set the agenda for the Gucci Groups edgy new direction. The billboard of a nude, concupiscent Sophie Dahl, for YSLs Opium perfume, was listed in 2012 as the eighth most-complained-about advert of the past 50 years.

But Fords ascent stalled when he parted ways with Gucci. It was a difficult break-up, personally as well as professionally. By the end of Gucci, I was drinking too much, I had no life, I wasnt very nice, he later said. He launched Tom Ford in 2005, but eased himself back in with fragrances and menswear before returning with a womens collection in 2010.

Ford also found a new outlet for his obsessive personality with film-making. It started with him acquiring the rights to Isher-woods 1964 novel A Single Man, but proceeded slowly as Ford composed 15 drafts; a studio executive advised him to give up and hand it over to an experi-enced writer. But he persevered, sinking nearly 5m of his own money into the production, and was rewarded with overwhelm-ingly positive reviews and an Oscar nomination for the films

star, Colin Firth. The sales of Fords heavy-framed black spectacles were probably not hurt, either.

Ford remains a brilliant multitasker and exuberant salesman, but he projects a less extreme and salacious image than in his Gucci heyday. He no longer drinks, has trimmed down and looks practically ageless. Last September, he and Buckley became parents (the baby, Alexander, was born to a surrogate mother in America). A committed Anglophile, he lives between the US and London a guilty pleasure is The Only Way is Essex and he has hinted that he might make the UK his permanent base. My dream goal is to raise my children here, he said recently.

For now, however, he simply wants to create beautiful, glamorous clothes. We will find out at London fashion week if one of fashions great provocateurs has any surprises up his immaculate white sleeves.

Mr. Ford, have you had a midlife crisis?

Yes. Leaving Gucci was devastating for me. Devastating because I had really put everything into that for fifteen years and all of a sudden I had no identity. Who am I? What am I doing? I have no forum to speak to anyone anymore or to convey my thoughts or ideas. Maybe I drank a little too much living in London thats a very easy thing to do. The emphasis in my life maybe switched to things that were not the important things. So yeah, I had a bit of a midlife crisis. I wish there was a better term for that. It comes to everybody, maybe in your thirties, maybe in your forties, maybe in your sixties or seventies, who knows. You get to the moment where you feel the clock is ticking and you are wondering if you are really getting the most out of your life.

If you have everything in life it is easier to lose yourself, it seems.

And if you do have everything it is also easier to understand that those are not the important things. Unfortunately a lot of peo-ple dont get to that point. They spend their lives striving and still dont learn those les-sons. Other people figure it out at age twenty and theyre completely balanced and together and understand how to keep things in check from an early age.

How would you describe your current state of mind?

I feel that I dont need anything for a good life. I grew up in New Mexico and the older I get I have less need for contemporary culture and big cities and all the stuff we are bombarded with. I am happier at my ranch in the middle of nowhere watching a bug carry leaves across the grass, listening to silence, riding my horse, and being in open space. So I have some sort of security that if I lost everything in my life, I would be very happy with the simple things because they are the ones that are important.

So the glamour you stand for doesnt interest you?

After just being in New Mexico for two months, I realized that I could really work from anywhere. I am really a loner after all; I am really not a social person. Because of my job people think I am out every night, but I really hate all that. I am somebody who likes to be alone and see some close friends. I am a shy and introspective person.

Do you get the most inspiration from nature? It is the ultimate beauty, after all.

Yes, nature is the closest thing to God and I dont mean God by any sort of religion but by the connection to the universe, which I think we have lost. The American Indians had that and where I live is actually the center of

the Anasazi Indian civilization. I even have two huge Anasazi ruins on the property of my ranch. I am not saying that there definitely is some sort of spirituality coming from there, but there might be. When you are close to the earth and you get up when the sun comes up and you go to sleep when it goes down, it puts everything in perspective.

Really?

Yes, all the rest of this crap just fades away. Weve lost our contact with the earth. Dogs dont have guilt, dogs dont have insecurity complexes, dogs dont think that they need a bigger house than the other dog. Dogs are just completely themselves. Theyre very in touch, theyre not thinking about their death. They are just rolling on their back, enjoying what that feels like. I think that is sort of the appeal of animals in our lives; that is whats important.

Are you a spiritual person?

I am a spiritual person in an eastern reli-gion kind of way. I learned that happiness for all of us is a switch that you flick in your brain. It doesnt have anything to do with getting a new house, a new car, a new girlfriend, or a new pair of shoes. Our culture is very much about that; we are never happy with what we have today. We always think that we need something else to be happy.

This all sounds like you have a tough time living the Hollywood life that everybody expects you to.

I did have a tough time dealing with it and I have learned how to separate it. It is a performance; it is me playing a role. I am not saying that there are no aspects of it that I enjoy; I love beautiful women, beautiful dresses, and beautiful flowers. But all those things have to stay in perspective. There is nothing wrong with loving the fact that we are physical beings but you have got to keep them in perspective. It is just a diversion.

Its one of the nice things in life, like eating a great steak or kissing a good kisser well, kissing a good kisser is maybe more valuable than all the other stuff but these are things you have to leave behind when you leave the planet. When I am on my deathbed, I dont think I will be thinking about a nice pair of shoes I had or my beautiful house. I am going to be thinking about an evening I spent with somebody when I was twenty where I felt that I was just absolutely connect-ed to them.

Are you really that much of a romantic?

Yeah, Im really a romantic.

How long does it take every morning for you to become that Tom Ford you were talking about before?

It takes me a long time in the morning to become the person that other people expect me to be. When I feel depressed and I have a bad day or something terrible has happened or I have to face something, I go through a very precise ritual getting dressed in the morning. In a sense it is armor; Im building up a layer. If everything in my material world is in order, I will be able to get through it. That perfectionism comes from me being a Virgo. My inner world is related to my outer world. If my house is a wreck, Im a wreck. If I am together, thats together. Thats a kind of balance.

For many years youve shared your life with your boyfriend Richard Buckley. Is he your idea of a good life?

Richard is the person I love the most in the world and the person I have been together with for 23 years. So yes, but so are my dogs. Ive asked myself, If I were to die tomorrow what are the things that I will remember? and I realized that nuzzling up with one of my dogs is one of the most precious things in my life! That would be something I would miss so much.

It must be important to have somebody that goes with you through that whole journey of life, somebody that shows you that it is not about the next fashion show or advertise-ment you shoot.

Of course it is. I am still friends with the people I went to school with. A lot of them have been working with me for the past 18 years. When you find somebody good, keep them! Keep them in your life.

Do you especially treasure the people you are close to because it is difficult for you to meet new people?

Honestly, I dont meet very many people. I am married but no one comes on to me, ever. It is like I dont exist sexually. No one, no one.

You are Tom Ford after all, so people proba-bly think they dont have a chance anyways.

Maybe that is the reason, but no one, no one flirts, no one comes on to me. Usually when people are personal with me, then they want to give me their business card at the end of the conversation.

So you wish you would get hit on more often?

Of course! (Laughs) Why not? I am not saying I would act on it, but it would be nice.

Tom Fords 15 things every man should have.

1. A sense of humor.

2. A daily read of the newspaper.

3. A sport that you love and are good at.

4. Tweezers.

5. A good cologne that becomes a signature.

6. A well cut dark suit.

7. A pair of classic black lace up shoes.

8. A smart blazer.

9. The perfect pair of dark denim jeans.

10. Lots of crisp white cotton shirts.

11. Always new socks and underwear.

12. A classic tuxedo.

13. A beautiful day watch with a metal band.

14. The perfect sunglasses.

15. Perfect teeth - if you dont have them, save up and have them fixed.

On Monday, Apple unveiled its smart watch. The Californian companys device will finally be available to buy from 24 April and will cost between $349 and $17,000 in the US and between 299 and 13,500 in the UK. But something more important was hidden deeper in Apples glitzy presentation: a project with the potential to completely change the way we learn about human health.

The Apple Watch will be made available in 1.5in (38mm) and 1.7in (42mm)screen sizes and, with 272x340 and 319x390 resolutions, respecttively. The smartwatch will feature a square-shaped display, unlike the rounded screen on the Moto 360, and this come coated in a protective layer of sapphire crystal.

Whie Apple didnt mention it, its website confirms that the smartwatch is also certified to the IPX7 waterproof standard, which means it will be protected against a short duration of water immersion at a depth of less than one meter.

The smartwatch will be available to pick up with different watch faces and straps, 34 to be precise. Buyers can mix and match these over at the MixYourWatch website, or try them in store from 10 April.

The Apple Watch will run a version of iOS designed from the ground up. It supports touch navigation, but the fresh UI can also be controlled by the handsets Digital Crown. This mechanical wheel, like that which you would normally use to set the time on an standard watch, lets you scroll and browse through the user interface.

For example, scrolling the Digital Crown

will allow you to zoom in and out on Apples Maps app, while tapping it will take you back to the main home screen.

Apples new Taptic engine also improves the mapping experience, buzzing wearers with different vibrations when they need to turn left or right. This feature can also be used to send fellow Apple Watch wearers a nudge, and for notification alerts.

On the software side, the Apple Watch also comes with Siri, allowing users to bark com-mands at their wrist and to reply to messages. On-screen typing will not be supported owing to the small screen size, but a feature called Smart Replies will allow users to choose from a number of pre-written responses for those who feel silly talking to their wrist. Those who dont will also be able to answer calls from the Apple Watch.

Handoff is also supported on the Apple Watch, a feature first introduced alongside iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, and HomeKit and HealthKit support is also included, which means users will be able to control devices in their home and track fitness levels while wearing the smartwatch.

While Apple has yet to give the full rundown, the Apple Watch comes stuffed full of health and fitness sensor, and is capable of measuring statistics such as heart rate, calories burned and body movements. This all comes baked in to Apples new Activity and Workout apps, where users can also count calories and set personal goals.

Apple had reportedly planned to stuff the device full of more advanced health features -

such as sensors to measure stress and oxygen levels - but encountered reliability issues during testing.

There will be a number of different watch faces to choose from on the Apple Watch too, which users can change by doing a long press on the homescreen. Swiping up from the bottom of the display will also launch a feature called Glances, enabling users to swipe through recent notifications.

During its event on 9 March, Apple confirmed some third-party apps that will be available from launch.

These include EasyJet, Salesforce, Shazam, WeChat and SPG Hotels, which will allow adopters to use the Apple Watch to unlock their hotel room.

Perhaps ensuring that Londons hipster crowd are the first to pick up an Apple Watch, the firm also confirmed that Instagram and Uber apps will also be available from launch.

Apple has finally spilled the beans on UK pricing. The 38mm Apple Watch Sport will be available from 299, while the larger 42mm model has been slapped with a larger 339 starting price.

The Apple Watch will be available from 479, with prices going up to 949 depending on what casing and band combination you opt for. For example, a 38mm Apple Watch with a Black Classic Buckle strap will set you back 559, while the 42mm model will be 50 more expensive.

The Age of the

Smart WatchApple have annouced the Apple Watch release date & UK pricing: coming 24 April, priced from 299, Edition price starts at 8,000

Get SomeHeadspace

If you havent already joined the medi-tation and mindfulness revolution, now is a great moment to jump on the bandwagon. The second version of digital wellbeing platform Headspace, which counts celebrities, members of the Wired team and more than a million other people around the world as fans, was announced today at The Royal Society of Medi-cine in London.

Id really encourage all of you to pri-oritise the health of your mind, says Andy Puddicombe, the face, voice and one half of the brains behind Headspace, to the audience as he introduces Headspace version 2. This is something so valuable for you and those around you.

The former monk is somewhat preaching to the converted -- most of the room profess to already being Headspace users -- but they will also therefore be used to succumbing to Puddi-combes dulcet tones. He has gained a reputa-tion for bringing meditation to the masses.

Puddicombe and Pierson have worked hard to make sure that the latest version of Headspace offers users a more personalised and bespoke experience, and there are a host of new features -- all based on two years of user feedback.

Each users Headspace journey is now mapped out on timeline so that their personal story is woven deep within the design of the app and so they will have a clear idea of what they have achieved. There are some gorgeous new animations and sweet details, such as the au-dio player itself, which now moves around as if its inside a lava lamp. I get really excited about the design of it. Theres something about look-ing at something thats beautiful that engages you and just makes you want to do it, says Pierson.

The pair have clustered content in new four areas once you have completed the foundation stage -- health, performance, relationships and Headspace pro. The last of these categories was

created, says Puddicombe, thanks to users who were further on in their Headspace journeys who told him that he talked too much. As such there are now guided and unguided medi-tations to help these people become used to meditating in silence.

Pierson is keen to extol the virtues of the relationship package, as this is the area he be-lieves the most change happens. The thing that causes most stress is other people, or our reaction to other people and more important-ly, how we react to the things that happen to us, he explains. Its not that you dont still get all that rubbish that happens in life, but youve got a different lens to put over it if you give yourself the opportunity.

Headspace SOS offers two-minute sessions to help users overcome meltdown moments and Headspace On-The-Go is packed with 10-minute sessions that have been tailored to various activities, including commuting, eating and walking.

Its undeniable that Headspace is help-ing to cause a cultural shift in how we think and talk about meditation. A result of this is that all sorts of people, even the people you might least expect, are not only meditating, but openly discussing the effect that it has on their wellbeing. This was always Puddicombes intention -- to bring mindfulness not just to those doing it already, for clinical or other

reasons, but to the other 95 percent of the population.

They may not even know that they need some mediation, but its those people who could benefit massively from it. So demys-

tifying that and serving it up so its accessible and friendly and creative is really exciting, he explains

That said, Puddicombe says that he knows people at the monastery who now use

Headspace to help them with meditation, and that he knows of people who have visited monasteries after starting mediating with Headspace. He obviously doesnt use it himself -- that would be creepy -- but he says that he sometimes wishes there was a version without his voice that he could use.

Everyone who uses Headspace or is involved in its creation is on a journey, and this includes Puddicombe and Pierson, who have great hopes for the future of the app. Not only will they continue to add more packs over time, but they will also look at bringing it to new audiences.

One thing they are currently investigating is translating the material so that is available in otter languages. This will be a huge challenge, not only because it involves rerecording hun-dreds of hours of audio, but because they want to make sure they get the right people to do it -- people who understand meditation, just as Puddicombe does, so that users will get the authentic Headspace experience.

The pair are also looking into Headspace for kids, which they say is there is urgent demand for, but again they need to work out the best way to go about developing it.

Headspace is meditation made simple, a way of treating your head right. Using proven meditation and mindfulness techniques well show you how to train your mind for a healthier, happier, more enjoyable life.

Groomingwith David Gandy

Do you spend as much time on your face as you do on your body?

Not at all. I barely use anything on my face, Im very minimal! I use a good quality moisturiser like Aveda Balancing Infusion. I like to keep it nice and natural. I also use Dr Lanc-er products like their Intensive Night Treat-ment which is very very good. Other than that youll never find me clean-shaven (at least not willingly!) so I just do routine grooming like trimming my beard.

As a representative for different brands you travel a lot, how do you think English guys grooming compares to others around the world?

Difficult question! I think Europeans tend to take more care than most British guys, but were definitely getting there. People who live in hot countries seem to care more for their appearance, they are more open-mind-ed when it comes to using ageing products. Which is obviously necessary as the sun does such bad things to your skin.

Your fitness app launched a few years ago and is very successful but how do you sug-gest guys get motivated to train in the first place?

Give yourself a goal. Think about getting down to a certain weight or size and how good you will feel when you accomplish that. Its about old-fashioned vanity! Then you have no excuse not to exercise. If you want to look like something you have to work hard to get it but I often find its tricky when you arent seeing results. Sometimes with things like exercise you dont see the results instantly, its a gradual thing that takes time to devel-op. So I recommend you take a before/after photo each month to monitor how your body is progressing. The results will spur you on to your ideal body.

Do you think its becoming more acceptable for guys to pay more attention to their under-wear?

As a whole, yes. Just as guys are more aware now of what theyre wearing generally, underwear is a part of that. With things like LCM which is a great platform to showcase de-

signers, its becoming a lot more acceptable for guys to focus on their appearance and be interested in this kind of thing. Theres a lot more coverage in the media now about mens clothing so it simplifies it all.

Why should guys invest in a good pair of pants?

Its all part of the outfit. Every guy has a favourite pair of underwear. Its just as important to find a good comfort and fit as it is with most clothes. Especially now with items like skinny trousers, you need the right pair of underwear so you dont see a big brief line through them.

How does this collection from M&S stand apart from whats already out there?

Its the best of what everyone else has done. But at a reasonable, affordable price. This is a range that covers everything. We have the briefs with a signature hound-stooth print that features on the packaging and internal linings as well - we wanted to portray the British heritage with a contem-porary twist. The package - excuse the pun - was really important too. We worked really hard on it and I dont think theres much else out there that looks similar. So really we looked at brands for inspiration like Derek Rose which has a rather expensive, premi-um feel. Obviously theres also the David Beckham for H&M which is a great range. Then theres also D&G. Overall, this range is all about fit and comfort.

Who do you think the collection is aimed towards?

Everyone! Older guys would like the briefs and the classic woven boxers. Ad-mittedly, these are also a kind of girlfriend trunk the type your girlfriend would lounge around in. Girls in guys underwear has that kind of relaxed, really sexy look. The trunk is the biggest seller and the hipster is kind of a new thing, a happy medium between the two. So you see it covers quite a wide spectrum.How does it feel to be a part of the new mens collection?

Extremely proud. Ive been working with

M&S for many many years and theyre great, they take really good care of me! Ive always wanted to do this with a British brand and releasing the collection in London was also really important to me as its my favourite place to be. But M&S backed me the whole way from design to release, theyre such a great brand.

In terms of guys looking good in their under-wear, what hair removal products would you recommend?

Im quite lucky in that I dont have to do much but I guess I would use electrolysis or waxing, something more permanent.

What other products do you always have in your wash-bag?

Aveda and Kiehls hair products are great. Moisturiser, and Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue. Toothpaste too!

As the worlds first and only supermodel, youll have seen him on every billboard world-over. Hes the face of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, Hugo Boss, M&S, etc, etc to basically every brand you could mention. Hes come a long way since his humble beginnings in Billericay, Essex, after Gan-dys friend put him forward for a modelling competition without his knowledge. The rest is history as they say, and with a body most men would die for and a trail of female admirers as long as the earth, wed say hes a decent guy to make a comment or two on male grooming.

For those unfortunate enough to be confined to suits for the majority of their working week, fashion has to take a back seat. Corporate suits can often be mind-numbingly dull and the sea of miserable faces trudging to work every morning is, to my mind, a mix of both work-based hatred and the realisation that they really dont know how to match up their shirts and ties.

Getting creative with your shirt and tie combinations is one of the best ways to showcase your love of fashion and style within a formal environment, but theyre extreme-ly easy to get wrong. After all, colours and patterns can be confusing individually, but when you start mixing them together, all hell can break loose. With this in mind, today we bring you our basic guide to mens shirt and tie pairings.

The colour wheel above offers you a visual representation of every shade and, more importantly, the similar, complementary and contrasting colours of each. Its all very simple really: the sections on either side of the colour in question are similar, directly opposite is complementary and contrasting hues are sep-arated by three sections of the wheel.

For example, red is opposite green, making it a complementary colour; purple and orange are either side of red, making them similar colours; and both yellow and blue are three sections away from red, making them contrasting. Yet, even armed with this knowledge, combining colours is easier said than done.

When it comes to shirts and ties, its often easier to pair contrasting colours than it is complementary. For example, a mid-blue shirt, burgundy (red is a contrasting hue) tie and navy suit combination is one that every man can pull off.

Complementary colours are harder to match because wearing them full strength is sometimes too much for the human eye to bear. The key here is to vary the shades, such as a light blue shirt with a burnt orange tie. Of course, this will already be second-nature to you because your tie should always be a dark-er shade than your shirt, without exception.

Of course, the easiest and safest option is to just combine a bold coloured/patterned tie with a crisp white shirt but wheres the fun in that? Experiment with colour mixing and you will quickly learn what works and what doesnt, eventually creating some go-to com-binations you can reach for on a daily basis.

Always buy nice ties. Nice doesnt nec-essarily mean expensive, but it does mean tasteful. If you have terrible taste in ties then there is very little that we, or anyone else for that matter, can do for you. As a person-al preference, I avoid anything too shiny or smooth. Textured and matte finishes make ties much easier to wear and help deflect at-tention to your outfit as a whole. As a general rule, your tie should be as close to the width of your suit lapel as possible.

These are your wardrobe workhorses and default option during the working week. Essential shirt colours that every man should own include white, sky blue and pink.

Important Note: throughout this guide we will be considering all shirt and tie combina-tions independently of your choice of suit. The majority of you will be confined to plain, neutral suits in navy, grey or charcoal during the working week anyway, which will help anchor any of the pairings advocated in the article.

As previously mentioned, white shirts offer you maximum versatility. No matter if you opt for a preppy stripe, tartan check or

knitted navy version, you can combine almost any tie with a white shirt. If you are going down the safe white shirt route, make sure your tie is full of character whether that is provided by pattern, colour or an interesting texture. Shirts in blue or pink are where you can show off your colour matching prowess. Below you will find a few go-to combinations for each

Try darker patterned or textured ties in the same family. A knitted navy version or navy polka dot tie is ideal.

Orange is a complementary colour and a burnt orange tie works particularly well with a sky blue shirt.

Both yellow and red are contrasting hues, so ties in shades of burgundy/oxblood or mustard/gold look great set against this shirt colour. These could be solid ties or mixed with navy (think club stripes). Green is a similar colour to blue try a dark forest green tie if you want to make a refined and effortless statement.

For Pink shirts, similar colours include mauve and purple. Opt for any of these in a nice deep shade and you cant go wrong. Green is complementary, and a matte khaki shade is a bold choice that will really separate your look from the crowd.

Blue is a contrasting colour and we would argue that nothing looks better than a pink shirt with a predominantly navy tie, whether solid or patterned.

Printed shirts are where things start to get interesting. Standard colour rules still apply for classic striped shirts but because you have already introduced a pattern, the design you opt for on your tie needs a bit more consideration.

Block-colour ties are the obvious go-to whether in similar, contrasting or complemen-tary shades but when you want to branch out into pattern mixing there is just one key rule to remember: always vary the size/scale of the patterns you combine. For example, thin striped shirts should be combined with larger patterned ties and wide striped shirts (think butchers stripe) should be paired with smaller, more intricate motifs.

A Guideto Shirt and Tie Combinations

Some men have terrible taste in shirts and ties - a quick glance around your work place will confirm it. So here is a quick guide to help you make sure your not one of those guys.

The next step would then be to start mixing patterns together. For example, this could be a striped shirt with a checked tie or vice versa. However, this is always a tricky line to walk and has a high possibility of making people go cross eyed if done wrong. The key here is to make sure that patterns arent too similar in size. If you stick to this rule then you can mix in as many patterns as you like really. Although as a rule I wouldnt ever use more than three. Stripes also work perfectly well with other stripes, again, so long as they arent the same size. For instance, why not try a thin pencil stripe shirt with a larger club stripe tie? Pick out the colour of the pencil stripe with one of the colours on your tie and it suddenly helps pull your entire look together showing you are a man that pays attention to detail.

Another great tip here is to simply vary the orientation of the stripes you combine. For instance, a vertical striped shirt can be paired with a horizontal or diagonal striped tie. This offers a clear contrast and helps to differentiate each piece.

Otherwise, polka dots, paisley and ge-ometric designs are all fair game. It all comes down to personal preference, so try out different pattern combinations and see what encapsulates your personality and approach to style best. You may immediately think that combining a check shirt with a patterned tie would follow a very similar set of rules to those of the stripe shirt. Not so. While stripes require a bigger or smaller pattern depending on their width, a check shirt always requires a bigger pattern on your tie to avoid it becoming lost. The exception here is a window pane check, which is similar to a pencil stripe and offers much more flexibility due to the scale being so large and the pattern so subtle.

Small gingham check shirts are the most traditional and dress code-friendly on the market, yet those who work in strict formal offices may even find this type of shirt too casual. If your gingham shirt features a classic

white base, bear in mind the colour matching principles outlined above and opt for a tie that is in a similar, contrasting or complemen-tary shade to the check colour. For example, a navy tie looks great with a sky blue or pink gingham check shirt another example outfit would be to utilise a navy pin stripe suit combined with a bold white and brown thick striped shirt and a red stripe tie. Seems like a lot of stripes in one outfit right? Well as long as you stick to the rule and the width of the stripes are not similar (or the same distance apart) you will be fine and avoid giving people the feeling of vertigo.

If you opt for larger tartan/plaid ver-sions, the key is to pick out one of the more subtle base tones in your shirt with a solid, block-colour tie. Just remember to keep the shade darker than the colour present in the shirt itself. Stripes are perfectly acceptable to combine with check shirts. Choose a tie with a big bold stripe so that it can easily compete with the pattern on the shirt and, again, make sure that one of the colours present in the stripes is the same as one of the secondary hues used on the shirt. Polka dots can also work well if you follow the same principles.

Avoid more intricate patterns such as paisley or geometrics as they are likely to create an optical illusion for anyone taking a cursory look at your unfortunate shirt and tie combination.

Shirts and ties are a difficult business - get it wrong and youre the laughing stock of your office; get them consistently right and suddenly youre seen as the best dressed gent in the company.

Practice and experimentation is the only sure-fire way to make sure that you get it bang on every time, but the general guide-lines above should help you on your way.