More from: James Medd
Icons May 2021
Escaping The Tyranny Of The Ordinary: Paul Theroux
The writer Paul Theroux has been cast in a great American tradition — as an inquirer, an idealist and, most importantly, a subversive. Originally published in Issue 64 of The Rake, James Medd writes that from his defining work, 1975’s The Great Railway Bazaar, he has helped us see the world anew.
Style May 2021
MILLER’S TALE
Robert Miller made his immense wealth from duty-free shopping, yet business domination was never enough for this salesman’s son from small-town Massachusetts. Originally published in Issue 48 of The Rake, James Medd writes that Miller wanted to secure his place in the global elite — and with the help of some strategic thinking, fealty to the aristocratic way, and three very eligible daughters, he has written his own great American story.
Style April 2021
UNFORGETTABLE?
How should we memorialise Nat King Cole? If, like St. Nick and the Advent calendar, it is once a year in December, we are doing Cole’s talent, influence and life story a disservice.
Style March 2021
POWER AND THE GLORY
His looks and charisma made him a star, and at one point in the Golden Age of Hollywood he was known as the ‘king of the movies’. Originally published in Issue 47 of The Rake, James Medd writes that Tyrone Power was his own harshest critic, and such acclamation was never quite enough…
Style February 2021
GOTTCHA
The Teflon Don, the Dapper Don, folk hero and brutal Mafioso: the legend of John Gotti contained more than one narrative. Originally published in Issue 53 of The Rake, James Medd writes that Gotti, the fifth of 13 children born to Italian immigrants, couldn’t handle the role of Mob boss. In the end, this insecure, violent, swaggering outlaw was the man who broke the family business.
Style February 2021
ALL WORK AND ALL PLAY: Francisco 'Baby' Pignatari
Originally published in Issue 41 of The Rake, James Medd writes that Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari was not your average playboy. True, he enjoyed plenty of sexual conquests, and was harshly dismissive of some of the women in his life. He embraced danger and lived his life, as it’s said, ‘to the full’. But one thing set him apart: all the cash he burned through at night he earned through hard work during the day.
Style February 2021
PROFITS OF DOOM
They are the 0.1 per cent, a socio-economic group of their own whose wealth, conspicuous consumption, egos and at times criminal behaviour have served to illuminate modern western morality. Originally published in Issue 57 of The Rake, James Medd writes that hedge-fund billionaires, see themselves as ‘alphas’, as masters of the universe, heirs to the robber barons who built America’s global dominance. With investors like these, what could possibly go wrong?
Style February 2021
REEL BRITANNIA
Tea parties in the Hills, the sound of leather on willow by Sunset Boulevard … British actors might be en vogue in the U.S. right now. Originally published in Issue 43 of The Rake, James Medd writes that it’s nothing compared with the glory days of the twenties, when Hollywood fell hard for Blighty and an army of ex-pat thespians — with their tweeds and servants and smoking pipes — turned a corner of California into a rather overwrought version of the raj.
Style January 2021
Field Days: Patrick Lichfield
Originally published in Issue 45 of The Rake, James Medd writes that he was the working-class aristocrat who became a self-made man with the help of his blue-blood friends. But Patrick Lichfield, the dandy with a bouffant hairdo, had a gift for connecting with people, and he used it to great effect to create photographs that still resonate today.
Style January 2021
THE CLIMBER: Lord Mountbatten
Originally published in Issue 42 of The Rake, James Medd writes that by the time of his death — a fishing boat; the Provisional I.R.A.; shock and outrage — Lord Louis Mountbatten had established himself as an English gentleman, a feted statesman, and, to some, one of the most heroic military men to represent the United Kingdom and its territories. But it wasn’t always so. With vaulting ambition sparked by familial shame, this royal foot soldier went in search of a higher purpose.
Style January 2021
Let's face The Music and Dance
Originally published in Issue 59 of The Rake, James Medd writes that London in the early 20th century was a heady scene, where a privileged few caroused and created, remaking the modern cultural world in their luminous, capricious image. Yet looming over the ferment were the horrors of war.
Pleasure January 2021
Light Years: The Golden Age of the Night Club
When you think of the seventies, what do you see? How about Bianca Jagger on a white horse at Studio 54, or Grace Jones on a pink Harley-Davidson at le Palace? Originally published in Issue 42 of The Rake, James Medd writes that whilst the seventies was the decade of economic and social unrest, it was also the golden age of the nightclub, when fashion, music and art came together to create a lifestyle so desirable it needed a strict door policy at all times.
