In 2010 or so, masculinity became codified in a way it never had before, when newfangled social media sites began lighting up with imagery of raw denim, waxed mustaches, and the perfect-fitting shirt — then, the standard of a well-groomed man (remember The Art of Manliness?).
It was a brave new world for style-conscious guys and dudes like Nick Wooster led the tastemaking pack.
Even today, when Wooster gives a co-sign, you know that he's looking at something deeper than a mere trend. That is to say, things that click with him usually make plenty sense to many men.
Wooster's appearance in the campaign for Hawthorne's limited edition "Dark Suede" cologne, available on Hawthorne's website for $60 a bottle, is indicative of this scent's far-reaching intrigue.
Incorporating notes of whiskey, ginger, sandalwood, and Italian mandarin, Dark Suede is far from a musky retread of '10-era menswear, when guys cosplayed lumberjacks and grew out their beards to affect that singular vision of male presentation.
Like Wooster and fellow campaign star Jordan Page, this scent contains multitudes.
Times are a changin' but, even still, only recently have masculine conventions been exploded by forward-thinking guys.
Not everyone can be Lil Uzi, sure, but as this progressiveness trickles down, it becomes more accessible for everyone presenting as masculine.
From Dark Suede's neutral bottle — approachable enough even if for the scent-averse — to its gently musky odor, this cologne is rooted in tradition but informed by contemporary notions of expression. Its gently coarse edge is softened enough by whisps of organic flora to strip away stuffy male norms of the past.
In an era where our scents define an emotion or undermine all aspects of perfume, Dark Suede is effortlessly approachable. Its scents are fresh but familiar, like an old friend all grown up.
