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10 Essentials: Ernest Alexander

Ernest Alexander Sabine started his line, Ernest Alexander, in 2009 with one goal in mind: the perfect men’s bag. And if you ask us, he nailed it. From rich leather messengers to tidy wax twill satchels, every piece is thoughtful and clean to a T. Thankfully, he has since expanded his collections to include equally immaculate and inspired menswear.

“Everything has a slightly preppy aesthetic, but with an edge,” Ernest says of his designs. That is, they may be inspired by his trips to Cape Cod as a kid, but they’re crafted and styled for life in the city. And it’s that winning combination that has earned him a spot as one of GQ’s Best New Menswear Designers this year. We met with Ernest at his apartment in Manhattan to hear more about his essentials, from rare whiskies to Swiss combs and the best chocolate chip cookies in New York City.

10 Essentials: En Noir’s Rob Garcia

The designer behind everyone’s favorite leather pieces this year—from Kanye West to LeBron James—shares his daily must-haves.

10 Essentials: Matt Baldwin

The Kansas City native—and GQ Best New Menswear Designer—on the perfect blazer, lounge chair, and moccasins.

10 Essentials: Michael Williams

The founder of A Continuous Lean on his favorite shoes, watches, and the best wine glass in the world.

10 Essentials: Jean-Philippe Delhomme

Regular GQ readers have all seen many of Jean-Philippe Delhomme’s illustrations, announcing Glenn O’Brien’s monthly Style Guy columns. As one of the art and fashion world’s favorite collaborators, you’ll find his mark on everything from Kitsune to Vuitton to Colette to macaron boxes at every Pierre Herme in Paris. And his gift for teasing out truth and humor through the characters in his art and writing (most recently in his book, The Unknown Hipster Diaries, now in its second printing) has made him one of the imaginative observers of hipster culture. Most days, you can find the soft-spoken artist side-stepping tubes of paint in his Brooklyn studio, where we met him recently to learn about the things he holds most dear.

See them all here.

The 10 Essentials: Saturdays Surf NYC

Their friendship and business were kindled by a longing for the beach. Josh Rosen, Morgan Collett, and Colin Tunstall, all recent transplants to New York, found each other as beach-types tend to do and wondered: Why wasn’t there a place in the city to chill with other surfer dudes? Enter Saturdays Surf NYC, the clothing-coffee-surf shop the trio created in 2009, which instantly became a hangout for fashion kids, caffeine addicts and, yes, fellow wave riders. Not long after opening they were putting out full lines, and in 2011 GQ creative director Jim Moore called Saturdays “the coolest store in America right now.” This year, GQ named them one of the Best New Menswear Designers in America.

Surrounded by a 360-degree view of the city in their spacious new Tribeca office (which, in true surfer style they sometimes cruise around on skateboards), they told us about their passion for the ocean, clothing, and coffee.

Todd Snyder’s 10 Essentials

GQ’s Best Menswear Designer in America shared with us the 10 things he can’t live without, including these vintage Lee jeans and Tricker Country Boots. Get the full list here.