Culture

Coffee @ Ralph’s: Mark Anthony Green

Talking fashion, footwear, and dating strategy with GQ’s new Style Guy

A brave—and social media–fueled—new era of men’s fashion calls for its own arbiter of style, and that’s exactly what GQ readers got this past summer when 27-year-old Mark Anthony Green took over the magazine’s venerated advice column from longtime Style Guy Glenn O’Brien. O’Brien, who has since added editor in chief of Maxim to his long list of creative projects, is a legend in the worlds of fashion and downtown culture. Green, for his part, is more legend in the making—a fresh voice with a hip, real-world perspective on looking your best.

In other words, he’s the perfect choice for a moment when it feels like the time-honored rules of style have been thrown out the window. Actually, says Green, “It’s not that there are no rules. It’s just that there are more rules that you should break.” Defying the conventions of style is integral to the Polo DNA—after all, Ralph Lauren basically invented the jeans-with-a-tux-jacket look—so that’s a sentiment we can heartily cosign. Ultimately though, Green adds, showing wisdom beyond his years, “No one should break all the rules, and no one should obey all the rules.” Knowing which is which? That’s all part of the fun. In our latest “Coffee @ Ralph’s” segment, shot on location at Ralph’s Coffee in the Polo flagship store in NYC, the man friends call “MAG” offers his take on looking sharp, living smart, and the strategic benefit of impressing Emily Ratajkowski’s mom.
  • ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY WESTON WELLS