Stuart McGurk, Associate Editor, GQ: “Kendall Roy is the best-dressed person in Succession partly because you never suspect he should be. The power gilet might keep your body warm, but the heart will remain cold. The irony of having a social conscience but also being so prohibitively expensive that only the likes of Kendall Roy can buy them makes you want to scream at the pointless vagaries of capitalism, which is exactly what Succession does. ‘Media Executive’ (NEW ENTRY)In a world where bots are programmed to instantaneously buy the latest Yeezys so they can be shown off on Instagram and then flipped on StockX, actual rich people, such as Kendall Roy, fictional star of HBO’s barnstorming Succession (played by Jeremy Strong), numbly spend thousands on anonymous cashmere jumpers and gilets from brands that espouse ethical corporate policies. So if you’re not on the list (and if you’re not, then please don’t darken our door until you’ve scrubbed up a bit), then you’ll have to make do with reading what the truly stylish have been up to this year, how they’ve conquered the red carpet, taken ownership of social media and generally taken control of the sartorial landscape. Of course there is always next year, but I would imagine that the competition is going to be even fiercer in 2021. The GQ list is finite and judgemental and if you’re a boldface man and you’re not on it, then shame on you. And while we have been fairly prescriptive in making this list, we have taken the soundings of those experts we hold dear and whose opinion on these matters we find compelling.
Which makes the GQ Best-Dressed list – the only one of its kind anywhere in the world – more important, more relevant and more pertinent than ever before. Men don’t hide themselves under bushels any more, and while it would be unfair to say we now live in a world of peacocks, men these days dress to be noticed. Not only do men tend to be better dressed now than ever before, but more and more of them – you, actually – are prone to dressing up in public. Being a Best-Dressed Man in 2020 means more than it did five years ago – a hell of a lot more.