GQ: Lenny

Photographer/Director: Mark Seliger Producer: Coco Knudson Local Producer: Shake Productions DP/Editor: David McCutcheon Fashion Director: Mobolaji Dawodu Talent: Lenny Kravitz Groomer: Felicia Leatherwood Colorist: Milan Boncich VFX: Scry Pictures

Finding comfort in opposition is also what draws him back to his family’s country year after year. Here, he says, he feels “solitary but connected. Restored but creative. Away from the world but inside of the universe. Away from home for the sake of finding another.” What better place to wait out a pandemic, and gain perspective, than in The Bahamas, he continues. “Solitude is so important. Each time I see two oceans meet, eat fruit from my hand from my garden, I think about my grandfather.”

Finding comfort in opposition is also what draws him back to his family’s country, year after year. Here, he says, he feels “solitary but connected, restored but creative, away from the world but inside of the universe, away from home for the sake of finding another”. What better place to wait out a pandemic and gain perspective than in the Bahamas, he continues. “Solitude is so important. Each time I see two oceans meet, eat fruit from my hand from my garden, I think about my grandfather.”

In an effort to celebrate legacy and duality, the clothes are a nod to the label’s forefather, Yves Saint Laurent, and his generation of beatniks. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, oddball pairings of tailored jackets and ripped-up denim peppered key players on the scene. Now in 2020, a time when much of the world remains still, with no “scene” in sight, Kravitz pulls off the collection, even on this remote runway of grottos and tide pools. It’s this duality – a love for extremes – that has come to define Kravitz. Growing up in New York, he was raised by his black Christian mother and white Jewish father and split time between Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Now, he shuttles himself from Paris to an Airstream trailer on the Carribean island of Eleuthera. In music, he’s equally beloved for his authentic blend of rock, soul and funk, as well as the soft, sensual way in which he delivers it. In fashion, it’s his marriage of the masculine and feminine and, perhaps, his early belief that gender rules were made to be broken, that separates him from the pack.

In this film and the accompanying stills by photographer Mark Seliger, Kravitz showcases creative director Anthony Vaccarello’s latest menswear collection for Saint Laurent. There is an animal-print silk blouse and coat, a leather aviator jacket, a straight-shouldered padded jacket so detailed and structured it rivals the cavernous backdrop of the island. And, of course, there are trousers made for a rock star: distressed at the knee, tight and slender in all the right places.

Beyond music, the native New Yorker and interior designer is known for his personal style, which he has called “sexy, comfortable, ethnic and sophisticated” — and few would disagree. He’s also known for his extensive collection of pop culture artifacts: a jumpsuit belonging to James Brown that reads “GFOS” or “Godfather of Soul”; purple velvet pants and a flamboyant and feathered vest worn by Jimi Hendrix; Mohammad Ali’s boots from his last fight, which took place in The Bahamas. Fashion, for Kravitz, is less about the item itself and more about the magic and history it represents.

Beyond music, native New Yorker and rock god-turned-interior designer Lenny Kravitz is known for his personal style, which he has called “sexy, comfortable, ethnic and sophisticated” – and few would disagree. He’s also known for his extensive collection of pop culture artifacts: a jumpsuit belonging to James Brown that reads “GFOS” or “Godfather Of Soul”; purple velvet trousers and a flamboyant feathered vest worn by Jimi Hendrix; Muhammad Ali’s boots from his last fight, which took place in the Bahamas. Fashion, for Kravitz, is less about the item itself and more about the magic and history it represents.

Turquoise waves slowly roll up to a white sand beach, inviting you to wade in. Nearby, a bonfire roars, illuminating the dark night sky, its sparks sprinkle the palm trees like confetti. The air is sweet and salty and, though you’re seeing it through a small screen from thousands of miles away, you can almost smell it.

Lenny Kravitz Goes Back to His Roots in The Bahamas

Dressed head-to-toe in Saint Laurent By Anthony Vaccarello, the multiple Grammy-winning musician and fashion icon pays homage to his family’s native country.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello shirt and pants.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jacket, shirt and sunglasses.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jacket, shirt, sunglasses, pants and boots.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello shirt and pants.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jacket, shirt and sunglasses.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jacket, shirt, pants and boots.

Kravitz wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jacket, shirt, sunglasses, pants and boots.

Mark Seliger

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The Bahamas is a sacred place for Lenny Kravitz. In and around the island of Inagua, his maternal grandfather’s place of birth, the multiple Grammy-winning musician has written songs about family, racial injustice and dreams of flying away. “It’s here that I can listen to what I’ve been living, to what floats in the wind,” he says of his home, its craggy coastline a solitary stage for the singer during quarantine. “Here, songs come to me written.”

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