Les Swann Awards : Le rendez-vous annuel de l'élégance masculine

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, dear subscribers, hello and welcome to this new episode of our Sartorial discussions. Today, I offer you a short and intense episode dedicated to the Swan Awards ceremony that took place on September 21st, Place de la Concorde at the fabulous Automobile Club de France. The Swan Awards is an initiative of our friend Yves Denis, the founder of Dandy Magazine, who was celebrating the 20th anniversary of his magazine. 20 years that Dandy Magazine is on the market, 20 years that Yves Denis and his team sing the praises of classic masculine elegance, 20 years that he resists with Parisian Gentleman and a few other friends to say that today there is still room in our country and in the whole world for classic style, for elegance, for distinction and for all the values ​​we defend together. This evening was very beautiful. To be honest with you, personally, I'm not a big fan of this kind of awards. You know, today we live in a world where awards are given for almost everything, in the bodies of trade, in companies, in the world of arts, in the world of show, in the world of gastronomy, etc. But when I saw this evening, to which of course I participated, to which I participated with my wife Sonia, finally I changed my mind. Not because I received an award myself, we will talk about it a little later, but because I felt that something was happening and that finally it was good that finally our world, our little world of classic masculine elegance and its award and its ceremony and its somewhat official annual moment of awarding to celebrate the elegant in the whole world. So before I show you a little 10-minute report that was made to get you into the backstage and into the atmosphere of this magnificent evening, I would like to pay tribute here to a few people. So this ceremony was divided into different categories. So obviously, on the César model, for example, for cinema, there was the most elegant cinema man, the most elegant author, the people who work in the world of elegance, the most elegant, if I dare say so, the professions of hospitality, who are the most elegant people, the most elegant photographers, the most elegant lawyers, etc. So it was quite interesting to see everyone together. It was a beautiful evening in the literal sense of the term. And that's why today I want to take the time to pay tribute to a few people. So in the cinema category, for example, it's our friend Paul Feig, who is a huge American director who lives in London with his wife, who recently directed Spy with Jude Law, who remade the remake of Ghostbusters in 2016, who is also known for A Simple Favor, and The Shadow of Emily, which is a slightly more recent film and has an absolutely stunning filmography. And Paul is a great elegant man. And it seemed quite appropriate to me to celebrate in all the professions the elegance of men. And Paul is the recipient of the first Swann Trophy for the world of cinema. Then we talked about the authors. So we were all happy. You know, sometimes there are people who do the unanimity. And in the world of writing about classical masculine elegance, there is one person who does the unanimity, and you probably know him or not, but if you are interested in Dandism, everything that touches on classical masculine elegance and its historical aspect, it is Mr. Daniel Salvatore Schiffer, who wrote a rather imposing bibliography around the notion of Dandism and masculine elegance. And it is absolutely normal that he received this award, which rewards the integrity of his work. Then there were awards for the professions of elegance. And again, the unanimity was made around a gentleman we all love, whose name is Albert Goldberg, who unfortunately could not participate in the ceremony, since he was in Nice and for health reasons he can no longer travel. But Albert Goldberg, if you are from my generation, you inevitably remember Fassonnable and Old England. Albert Goldberg was behind these two huge successes. Fassonnable, this absolutely mythical brand, which he sold quite a long time ago, and Old England, this kind of paradise for gentlemen, which unfortunately closed its doors maybe 15 years ago. Then there were a little more special rewards, the professions of lifestyle and hospitality, with Mr. Sanjeev Ramdhani, I hope I pronounce his name correctly, who runs a resort, a hotel in Lille-Maurice, the Mara Diva and Sands. Then there were awards for photographers. And again, I was delighted to see Mr. Jean-Daniel Laurieux again. Jean-Daniel Laurieux is a bit of an icon in the world of fashion photographers. He is someone who has worked for Vogue, he is someone who has worked for all the major press titles, but more recently, he has also worked for Elegance Masculine Classique. And it was quite normal to celebrate his talent, his ability to capture the elegance in others, in ladies, of course, since it was a bit of his job at the beginning, but also today in men. There were also a little more special things, like the most elegant lawyers. So it was given to a man named Ardavan Amir Aslani. I hope I don't miss his name. And there was a special prize from the jury for the person who had to arrive, who had to come, but who unfortunately, for trade unions and strikes, the screenwriters and producers in Hollywood could not move because there was a veto that was put by the trade unions so that all the people who are part of this trade union do not make public appearances for a few weeks. It is obviously the immense actor, producer, director, screenwriter Charles Danes. So, many of you... He has a completely amazing filmography, but many of you, especially the general public, and the youngest among you, discovered him in Game of Thrones, of course, because he played Tywin Lannister, the father of the Lannister dynasty. And of course, the most important award that everyone was waiting for and that ended this magnificent evening, was the trophy of the tailor of the year 2023. So, of course, it's always a bit subjective, it's always a bit annoying to say that a tailor's house or that a tailor is better than another tailor. But I think that in the spirit, in the atmosphere of this evening, there were a lot of tailors who were present, of course. Obviously, there is a kind of fraternity that is born in this kind of trade. And everyone applauded, applauded, of course, the reward given to Lorenzo and Massimo Cifonelli, who, as you know, have been my historical tailors for more than 15 years now. And we were all very happy to award them this trophy. So, the trophy of the 2023 tailor of the Swan Awards for Lorenzo and Massimo Cifonelli from the eponymous house in Paris. So, this trophy that I have here, it's good, I don't know how good it is. It's bronze. It was made by an artist called Wayming, especially for the occasion. And it's a trophy that was given to me. So, I was rewarded in the press and influencer category. So, I allowed myself to say on the mic that I had a very small semantic problem with the notion of influence, since the first advice my dad gave me when I was a kid was to tell me, Hugo, above all, don't be influential. So, it's funny that 50 years later, maybe 45 years later, I find myself on a stage at the Automobile Club de France and receive a pretty statuette like this to reward myself for the so-called influence that I have in the world of classic masculine elegance. That being said, you have to live with your time. I dedicate this award to my team, to my wife, Sonia Nicholson, without whom I wouldn't be here because we've been doing everything together for so many years, to my technical team, to the people who work with me on video, to our photographers, to our editors. Parisian Gentleman, this thing, I received it with a lot of happiness because it means a lot to me. It's not just a reward for me as a person, but it's really all the people, all the people, all the people who have gravitated around our work and our Paris a little crazy 15 years ago, saying, yes, there is still room for beauty in this world. That's what I wanted to tell you. We're going to leave you now with this little film of about ten minutes, which will plunge you into the universe of the Swan Awards, which took place on September 21 in Paris at the Automobile Club de France. Small announcement, not quite official, but here we are at home, so official. A priori, we could be partners of the next edition in 2024, which would be the Swan Awards by Dandy Magazine and Parisian Gentleman. More information on this subject soon. I'll leave you at the Automobile Club de France Place de la Concorde on September 21. And you'll see, it's beautiful. So, welcome to the club. Thank you very much.