By Daniel Hakimi in ald — Sep 26, 2024

The Magic Behind The World's Borough

Consistently among the best lookbooks in menswear, Aimé Leon Dore's "The World's Borough" series reflects incredible styling, but, more than that, a human element that can't be emulated.

Mordechai Rubinstein, a regular in The World's Borough

Queens, New York. Aimé Leon Dore... does not have a store there. Their flagship store is located on Mulberry Street, in Manhattan. But it is, meaningfully, a Queens-based brand.

The brand reflects its founder and designer Teddy Santis. Santis grew up in Queens, with Greek heritage. He loves playing basketball with his friends. He saw people wearing Ralph Lauren on the street. He saw the way rappers styled their clothing. These features of his upbringing are all reflected in his work.

But none of them alone is the whole story. While the brand's regular lookbooks are beautifully styled, the brand shines most in the celebratory lookbooks it calls "The World's Borough."

Rather than hiring a small number of professional, stately models to present the clothing in the traditional way, The World's Borough collects real people—friends of the brand, local athletes, people in the industry, people from the city, people's families, people's dogs, and in one case, guests from the local fire department—to represent the brand more naturally.

The lookbooks are still professionally styled in expensive clothing, and shot by professional photographers in professional studios. But nobody seems to be at work; the models are playing around in front of the camera, embracing the often goofy styling of their clothing. They dance, they laugh, they hug. Their diversity highlights the New York community beautifully.

This approach has given rise to many immitators, as Jason Diamond recounts, describing his experience modeling for J. Press. He coined the term "homie lookbook," to describe the phenomenon that has spread to Drake's. But it all started with ALD.

The lookbooks have a few regulars, like Mordechai Rubinstein and Aaron Levine, both legends in the industry and friends of the brand.

Mordechai and the Rubinstein family love to play around on camera.

Below, I'm going to share my highlights from each of these lookbooks, with some comments to help you see the charm I've described above. Consider the hallmarks of the styling: "neo-prep" style, a casual revival of preppy and ivy tailoring; playful use of scarves and hats; layering; and signature footwear (loafers, New Balance sneakers, and low-top lug-sole Timberlands). And enjoy. I'll include links to each of the lookbooks so you can choose your own highlights and save your own inspiration.

Fall/Winter 2024

Spring/Summer 2024

The S/S24 album is the one album not based on New York City, celebrating the brand's London store. It's not my favorite, but it's not for me. The lookbook celebrates soccer in place of basketball, and generally features the London community, with which I am not familiar.