We often equate manliness with stoicism and physical power. But that leaves little room for the more complex and faceted parts of our humanness.
In this issue, we’ve assembled a group of men who buck traditional standards. Their creative pursuits and emphasis on artistic expression elevate our cultural experience. These are style-forward, culinary-focused, soulful sons, fathers, sportsmen, and soccer coaches. They balance and display drive with heart, and power with vulnerability.
These men create, invent, and devise. They are visionaries; they are singular. They are actors, artists, entrepreneurs, trend-setters, and trend-buckers. They march to their own beat; they strive to stand out in their respective fields. They are culture creators, with a desire to elevate the status quo.
There’s artist Mark Brosseau, recipient of the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, who teaches at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts; Ryan Alford, creator of mega-popular marketing firm Radical, born out of his years in ad agencies; father-son clothiers Rush and Jay Wilson, the III and IV, respectively, who are keeping alive a family business, 70 years and counting; local television personality Jamarcus Gaston, whose sense of style is a blend of pop, vintage, and classic pieces. There’s also Brandon Micheal Hall, graduate of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities, who graces your television screen as CBS’s star of the hit series God Friended Me. And, there’s Chef Adam Hayes, who stuns in the kitchen and is now the director of culinary for Larkin’s Restaurants.
These men take what is and make it their own. Maybe that’s the best definition of being a man: to be uniquely, unabashedly, one’s self.
Blair Knobel
Editor-in-Chief
Twitter / Instagram: @LBKNOBEL
