The Rake

The world’s preeminent publication dedicated to the renaissance in gentlemanly sophistication and style, THE RAKE recaptures the codes of classic men’s elegance. Inspired by icons such as Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, the Duke of Windsor, Gianni Agnelli, Sean Connery, and their contemporary counterparts, THE RAKE provides incisive, in-depth commentary on magnificent menswear, and the many other elements of gentlemanly living, from manners and ethics, to art and design, tasteful travel, health and well-being, the intellectual and philosophical, to homes, modes of transport, entertainment, food and drink. THE RAKE is the modern voice of classic elegance.

Letter from the Founder

Letter from the Editor

Contributors

arbiter • ICH BIN EIN RAKE; A NEW YORK MINUTE; MADE IN AMERICA; PROGRESS AND PERFECTION; NECESSARY BEAR; HOUSE BEAUTIFUL; BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN.

FOR ONE BRIEF SHINING MOMENT • What might have been? What might have been had John F. Kennedy avoided Dallas in ’63? Would he have remade the world? For as long as we yearn for the counterfactual, the legend of Camelot will endure…

MR PORTER STYLE COUNCIL RAKE COMMENDS: NEW YORK • How does a super-city of more than eight million people manage to feel like a collection of intimate moments to which one gives one’s heart? That is the particular magic of New York.

HYMNS OF THE REPUBLIC • His classic songs might try to gauge the ‘distance between American reality and the American Dream’, but Bruce Springsteen’s belief in the U.S., and his attraction to its totemic power, has been the consuming force of his life.

‘I WANT TO BE SEEN AS SOMEONE WHO MAKES GOOD CHOICES. NOT SOMEONE WHO GOES FOR A SAFE BET’ • The British actress Hermione Corfield tells the rake why she looks up to Reese Witherspoon and Margot Robbie, and how city life has got under her skin…

BEAR WITH US • A bear? In the column devoted to pooches? For one issue, the line of hounds waiting to take the soapbox were happy to make way for a furry icon of peerless stature…

‘I THINK WHAT YOU’VE GROWN UP WITHOUT DEFINES YOU RATHER THAN WHAT YOU’VE GROWN UP WITH’ • John Demsey, the man at the helm of Estée Lauder, gives us exclusive access to his New York townhouse to talk tailoring, dogs, pop culture, eponymous shoes and, of course, the surging interest in men’s grooming.

HAMPTONS COURTSHIP • Ricky Lauren is an author, artist, photographer, psychotherapist and mother. And alongside her husband, she has shown that — even in America — family life at its most wholesome can be far more dignified than a lifetime of hedonism.

INVEST • Investments can be unpredictable, but not so with these winners, which we have handpicked to provide you with sound and secure appreciation — aesthetically, spiritually and financially.

articles • THE TIME IS NOW; HUMANITY, HUMILITY; GALLANTLY STREAMING; FUNDAMENTALS OF STYLE; A LARGE OBSESSION; BACK TO BEDFORD; LONE RANGER.

RALPH LAUREN: WHY THE WORLD NEEDS HIM NOW MORE THAN EVER • Ralph Lauren has created a language of design that speaks to the best of the United States: freedom, fairness and liberty. He is, writes wei koh, America’s poet laureate of style. Who better to listen to, then, as the rake celebrates its 10th anniversary and Lauren’s eponymous brand marks half a century of unbroken greatness?

GIVING FROM THE HEART • His impeccable taste has translated into a successful luxury label, but what is less well known about the American designer Ralph Lauren is that he has been quietly — and with astonishing generosity — using his resources to support numerous philanthropic causes, most notably in cancer care and research. While he’s not inclined to publicise all the good he’s been doing, the rake’s founder, wei koh, feels that recognition of this American hero is long overdue.

DAVID LAUREN:...