Speaking of, when it came time to bust down some big silver rings with the GQ logo, there was no question who to call. “The Great Frog really understands the hard-partying,
biker-lords-of-darkness energy that was emerging out of these merch designs, and they really live it themselves,” says Will. “Everything is fully handmade and carefully considered—Reino at The Great Frog made the prototype himself and was texting me photos of the process along the way.” The rings are crafted out of sterling silver and set with antique onyx, but the coolest part might be the price: $175. “We wanted to keep the price within reach for our readers,” Will says. (What’s the price for the 1-of-1 14K gold version that The Great Frog made for Will? “Upon request.”)
Of all the merch in this drop, the dark horse staff favorite might just be the bandana, the pattern of which was adapted by executive design director Rob Vargas directly from the pages of GQ: the May 2020 Kanye West cover story opener art, to be exact. “When we’re deciding what to design for each merch drop, we go really far out with new ideas, but also reinterpret designs we made for the magazine,” Rob says. “The Kanye opener art was inspired by the print headline, which was ‘The Space Program’—the idea was to do schematics like you’d find from the golden age of space travel.” For the bandana, Rob took the original graphic and arranged it so it would look interesting whether you tied it around your head for yoga or around the band of your Telfar bag.
Check out the new gear below, and update your holiday wish list accordingly. But don’t wait—when this new merch is gone, it’s gone.
