Icon Redux: Bearding Mr. Lincoln

Check out the video for Icon Redux: Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

So I tried to Google the number of magazine covers Brad Pitt has graced since November 2008 vs. the number of magazine covers Abraham Lincoln has done posthumously since then. I couldn’t find hard numbers. But I’m thinking Lincoln would come out on top. Huge resurgence in popularity since Obama’s election. Huge. And understandably so -- he arguably laid the groundwork for Obama’s presidency, and Obama doesn’t mince words when naming Lincoln one of his political heroes. Plus, the man is turning 200 years old today, which warrants some sort of recognition. But Lincoln’s resurgence transcends birthdays and the thank-you nod we’ve all been giving him for catalyzing the rise of this new administration.

Our country, and indeed, our world (“indeed”—how presidential did that sound?) is in chaos. Our economy sucks. We and other “civilized” nations are constantly at war with someone or other. Our social and economic priorities have become so jumbled and regressive that what’s right may not be what’s right anymore, or worse, may never have been what was right in the first place. And we’re feeling more lost than ever.

Naturally we’d look to the guy who got us through one of the worse times in our history to, well, get us through again.

There are tons of perfectly valid theories and opinions rightfully questioning how progressive Abraham Lincoln actually was. On superficial observation, he was gunned down trying to relax after having had the grand misfortune of presiding over some ridiculously turbulent times, and presto! He’s an instant and everlasting national superhero. On closer inspection, he was a melancholic and quite possibly bipolar man whose personal sentiments may not have matched perfectly the social ideals he either decried publicly or that have been attributed to him posthumously.

Either way, he was a man of unparalleled intellect who spoke some incredibly poignant and timeless pearls of wisdom, pearls that, when strung together, make for a pretty grand necklace worth wearing through the current socio-political-economic shit-storm. And pearls definitely worth donning in this episode of Icon Redux.

Plus, the man rocked out a beard, suit, and top hat like nobody’s business.

The suit. Finding the right suit for our Lincoln became such a pain in the ass that we scrapped the whole idea. Instead, we called the guys over at Loden Dager, a group of four designers (Oliver Helden and Paul Marlow, who design for Marc Jacobs, and Matthew Sandager and Alex Galan—“Loden Dager” is in their names somewhere) who often name their pieces in homage to different icons. A 2006 collection offered pieces like the Hoffman (as in Dusty) and the Taylor (as in Jimmy), and the Spring/Summer 2008 collection (from which the Lincoln vest comes—yes, we’ve renamed it “the Lincoln”) has a whole Grapes of Wrath thing going on.

The hat. After being scowled at by an old man at Cheap Jack’s (I think it was Jack) for asking to borrow a hat, I crossed the street to JJ Hat Center, where, like angels, older gentlemen in argyle vests and, of course, hats, greeted me with a nod, a smile, a house cat shaved to look like a lion, and a Lincoln Top Hat sitting behind glass like the priceless relic that it was. I asked for it. They said sure. And I waved at Cheap Jack with a smile on my face and a hatbox in my hand as I passed his store on my way back to the subway.

The beard. When I first met with Demetrios Kalkanis about this episode, he was sporting about three days worth of scruff. The next time we met, he was looking like a lumberjack who hadn’t seen civilization in a few months. With a little trimming, his high-cheekboned visage reeked of Lincoln, and as shoot time approached, people began shouting “Hey, Lincoln!” at him from across the street. They had no idea.

Beyond the beard. Of course, the clothes and the facial hair do not make the man. All things considered, Lincoln requires a man of force to play him. And Demetrios Kalkanis is nothing if not a man who carries some sort of force with him. He is tall, cut, incredibly sturdy both physically and in the way he carries himself ... the kind of guy whose presence you can feel before he enters a room. He inserts very Lincoln-esque things about peace and humanity into otherwise benign conversations, the kind of things that would sound cheesy and pretentious coming from a guy who spoke with any less conviction than he does. But he pulls it off. He’s a believer. And it shows in his focus, his energy, his seriousness about his craft and about the way he conducts his life.

The whole effect can be disarming in the best possible way. Trent, one of the guys playing the reporters—and a formidable guy in his own right—pulled me aside on set and asked, “Where did you find this guy?” I told him he had been in a film of mine a while back, and he said, “He’s freaking intimidating.”

And in a way, he is. He holds such a Lincoln-esque sturdiness of character that he almost demands that you elevate your game or else get out of the room. He has the potential to be very effective that way, much as Lincoln was very effective back in the day.

Whew! We got heavy there for a second! Whatever. They both look good in a suit. End of story.

Special thanks to Company XIV, our last “Icon of the Future,” for providing the space.