Dandies, both of them: our cover model, André Benjamin (or André 3000, to use his OutKast name), who’s never met a hue he couldn’t rock, and Sir Paul Smith, our profile subject, who’s in the business of coaxing men out of their color comfort zone. But for most men, the intensely colored spring that’s upon us might be a little intimidating. An orange shirt? Worn with a loudly patterned pair of shorts? Well, yes. The cast of the exuberantly physical performance piece Fuerzabruta seems to be drawing their explosive energy from the firecracker colors they’re wearing as they frolic across the pages. It might be too much for every day, but occasional forays into the gumball spectrum can be rejuvenating. The next generation of men, it seems, is without chromophobia. As the “Sleepover” story shows, they mix with the opposite sex as casually as they mix their primary colors.

The Dandy’s Progress
André 3000, just another rapper with a clothing line inspired by thirties football teams and the Duke of Windsor.
By Ben Williams

Green Socks, Pink Pants
Paul Smith’s attempts to get men out of the black-gray-brown-navy rut.
By Sarah Bailey

Run, Jump, Leap, Fly
The cast of Fuerzabruta goes headfirst into spring color.
Photographs by Christian Witkin

Sleepover
A fashionable pajama party.
Photographs by Martine Fougeron

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Harriet Mays Powell
• Table of Contents: Feb 25, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!