E ven before Wes Anderson’s desert-town sci-fi Asteroid City hit cinemas in 2023, the internet was talking about Rupert Friend’s costume. Pictures of the British actor, 42, walking around the set in a cropped denim jacket, matching jeans, cowboy boots, a neckerchief and a ten-gallon hat helped to kick-start 2024’s western-wear trend. But the look wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Friend.
“My thing has always been a level of practicality within the chic,” he laughs, chatting on the set of our photoshoot, and noting his love of utilitarian American clothing brands like Carhartt and Double RL. Today, he is in elegant Italian tailoring by Corneliani, evoking visions of Riva yachts and, as he says, “alpaca turtlenecks”. “I worry slightly about not being grown up enough to pull that off,” he says, which is why, now resident in New York, he often goes for clothes that can take a beating and still look good.
“You know, you make a table,” he says, revealing carpentry skills, “then brush yourself down and go for a glass of wine.”.