Politicos rarely have taste and elegance, but Ebs Burnough, the former White House adviser turned film director, is the exception that proves the rule.
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Ebs Burnough is, by his own admission, a lapsed politico, although ‘lapsed’ might be doing a lot of legwork there. His political instincts and connections are as sharp as they were when he was a White House adviser during the Obama administration. He is a jack of many trades, and a master of them, too. Public policy, presidential speechwriting, documentary filmmaking, cultural programming — you’d be hard-pressed to find a room in which Ebs is not the most interesting, and interested, person present. He is a quiet but potent force. Book in a conversation with him, or accost him at a drinks party, and be prepared to discuss a multitude of topics, from art and literature to moviemaking and politics, current affairs and history.
There is also, of course, the topic that brought me and Ebs together in the first place: tailoring. He was the driving force behind Huntsman: Redefining Savile Row, a book I was fortunate enough to be asked to write, and the project opened up more time with Ebs than his peripatetic existence is usually able to provide; it was a great and noble cause, after all. These days he is finalising a documentary he directed on Jack Kerouac, called Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation.
The Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse “helps me get my head into a space that I need” for meetings with studio executives — and with this watch, Ebs “is going in ready to rumble”. He sees the Jar as a fun and unassuming addition to any outfit.
The front of a Rolex Datejust. “I love watches,” he says. “Madeleine Albright had that thing about the pins she wore — ‘diplumacy’. She wrote a book called Read My Pins. To me, watches help give my a sense of style, yes, but also my sense of attitude."
Ebs noticed these amber cufflinks as he was passing a vintage shop in Paris with his husband, Pierre Lagrange. The elephant pieces were found in Cape Town, during his first trip to South Africa. The Taffin cufflinks were an anniversary gift.
The back of the Rolex Datejust, a birthday gift, with his birthyear and a heart engraved on the back.
There are items so precious that you either never wear them or you keep them on you at all times because you are so attached to them — the Cartier Crash is the latter for Ebs, "a timeless piece that always makes me smile and feel creative".
What excited Ebs about the frock coat is that it blended the historical and the modern, creating an unconventional spin on an old garment using a fun but vintage-looking fabric, originally gifted by a friend in France.
Blue suede horsebit loafers and jeans that juxtapose but complement the jacket from both a colour perspective and a rock ’n’ roll one.
