Details, January 1991

Our latest piece from Ian Birch looks at an early iteration of Details, the Condé Nast mens title that closed in early 2016. This was the first phase of James Truman taking over as editor, and re-imaging the magazine with Derek Ungless as art director.

Albert Watson photographed Groove of Groove B. Chill, styling by Joe McKenna (it’s a Comme des Garçons shirt) with production by Veronica Webb. It was from ‘Rap Nation,’ Watson’s portfolio inside (below).

As the intro to Maura Sheehy’s piece said, ‘This year, Hip Hop moved from the inner city to the mall’ and Chill’s album ‘Starting from Zero’ from the previous year was part of the new ‘Daisy Age’ alongside acts like De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest. Both Daryl ‘Chill’ Mitchell and Gene ‘Groove’ Allen later became successful actors.

In classic Details style, there’s also how to buy a rocket launcher, a spread on Marvin Minsky, the American cognitive scientist who became an AI guru, and a Q&A with a fledgling Demi Moore (above).

Ian Birch is the former editorial director of Hearst magazines. Follow him on Instagram for more cover stories, and look out for his new book ‘Uncovered—Revolutionary Magazine Covers’ (ISBN-13: 9781844039043) which will be published 4 October.