Inside the Closets of 13 Influential Men, from Lenny Kravitz to Yohji Yamamoto

We ventured into closets the world over—from a three-story man cave to a stark Parisian retreat—to learn what a guy’s wardrobe reveals about his inner self.Bjarke IngelsSuperstar Architect, 51Copenhagen, DenmarkJakob StormYou live on a decommissioned ferry that you converted into a houseboat.It’s essentially a Norwegian car ferry. I just put a sheet of glass on either end of the car deck so that it became like a loft. Then you have some spaces below deck: The master bedroom is basically two steel beams spanning between the captain’s cabins and weaving in between the two chimneys.It’s just a very long space—45 feet long and only 12 feet wide. The shower is like a cylinder, with a circular shelf [around the sides] for clothing and a skylight above. Then behind the shower, you have cabinets. So in a way, you can call it a walk-around closet.Are there any organizational items that you really love? Specific hangers or anything?No. I mean, my wardrobe is 90 percent monochrome suits…that you can fold flat and they don’t wrinkle.Why is that?I like the uniform aspect of it. It’s a bit like…do you remember Jeff Goldblum’s character in the movie The Fly?Sure.He has this cabinet with 12 of the same outfit: the same pants, the same jacket, the same shirt, the same tie. So he doesn’t have to make any choices. I do enjoy this idea. —Zack HauptmanJakob StormJakob StormLenny KravitzGuitar God, 62Paris, FranceLars BrønsethDo you keep the outfits you wear on album covers or in music videos?I have a lot of it. In the beginning, I wasn’t one of these archive people. I wasn’t aware of “Oh, this is iconic, I’m going to put it away.”I have the “Are You Gonna Go My Way” video outfit. The feather boa, shirt, and sunglasses from Mama Said, I have. The pants I can’t find.What’s your most meaningful item of clothing?I have a leather jacket that belonged to Miles Davis that was given to me by my godmother, Cicely Tyson, who was married to Miles Davis. When he died, she gave me that.I have some clothes of Jimi Hendrix’s. I have a shirt that was given to me by Yoko Ono on my birthday years ago that was one of John’s favorite shirts. Pieces like that. They have a lot of sentimental and historical value.How many leather jackets do you think you have?I mean, I don’t know. Could be up in the thousand range. —Raymond AngLars BrønsethLars BrønsethDavid SedarisGenerational humorist, 69New York, NYRyan DuffinWhat’s the story behind your priest’s robe?I was invited to the Vatican in 2024. I didn’t really care that much about meeting the pope, but the clothing that people wore in the Vatican was amazing. Someone had told me about this store in Rome called Gammarelli that’s been dressing the Vatican for [nearly] 300 years, so I went there to have a cassock made. They had one that somebody had never picked up, and it was a tiny bit long, but otherwise fit me perfectly. I wore it not long ago just at the FedEx office, because people treat you nicely when you’re dressed like a priest.It has 33 buttons, one for each year of Christ’s life, and you’re supposed to do them up each time you put it on. But the second time you put it on, you wish that he’d been crucified at 12, because there’s just too many buttons.Do you and your husband, Hugh, ever share clothes?He gets so mad when I wear something of his. You don’t want to be the gay couple who both wear Comme des Garçons. If you said to Hugh, “Tell me what you’re wearing,” he probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. I mean, if he goes out to dinner, he’ll put on a sport coat, but he doesn’t wear things that anyone would ever stare at. And I don’t want to be stared at, but at the same time I want to wear what I want to wear. So that means sometimes I do get stared at, but if the alternative is to go around in cargo pants, I’m not interested. —Yang-Yi GohRyan DuffinRyan DuffinJulio TorresComedic Polymath, 39Brooklyn, New YorkBowen Fernie. Grooming by Cy Daigle using Nars Cosmetics.I’m looking at a pair of bat wings right now. I’d love to hear more about those.My closet is a combination of clothes and costumes, and costumes that become clothes.What’re you going to be for Halloween?I think I’m going to be an ant. Either holding a leaf that’s my umbrella with little-big drops of rain on it, or go scary and have a magnifying glass with a sunray burning me.Do you have a closet setup that works for you?I like that it’s sort of tucked away in a way that restricts the amount of space that the clothes take. You have to go up a little ladder and down a little bridge to get to it, and it’s sort of annoying to get to, but if it were easier—if it were just a door next to my bed—then I would have clothes everywhere in my apartment.Is there anything in your closet that you want to wear more?Sometimes I think that I would love to complete my outfit by holding something all day. Like a vase, a harp, something that’s not useful. Not a bag. One time, I wasn’t fully feeling something that I was wearing and I was like, “What if I just carry this hanger around?”What’s the funniest thing in your closet?I have this bin, which is supposed to be for socks and underwear, but every time I go there looking for socks and underwear, it’s always like, “What is this?” It’s like scarves that I’ve never worn. It feels like a miscellaneous fabrics bin. And I’m just like, “What are any of you? Who are you?” —Savannah SobrevillaBowen FernieBowen FernieSteve HarveyTV Icon, 69Atlanta, GeorgiaBANVOAYou once said you had over 500 suits. Is that still true in your new fashion era?I have more now. I’ve always enjoyed dressing up. Always. I’m not uncomfortable in a shirt and tie. I’m at my best in a shirt and tie. I love dressing up. That comes from my boyhood, going with my mother to church where you had to wear a suit. People ask me all the time, “Hey, man, ain’t you uncomfortable in a suit?” No, I’m at my most comfortable when I’m in a suit.I always loved dressing up, but what Elly [Karamoh, Harvey’s stylist] brought to me was the different things to wear: Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Kiton, Prada, Gucci, the newer Tom Ford. The looks had lots of different colors, because I was always a color-driven guy, but I lost that trying to dress for my talk show.How many closets do you have?I have two main closets. One closet is mostly stage clothes. It’s my man cave. [Editor’s note: Harvey has a three-story man cave on his property, separate from his main house.] This is the only space that I’m allowed to decorate and do anything I want with. In that big-ass house, this is all I have control over. I don’t have a say-so in a light bulb in that other house. But over here I can do the Steve Harvey thing.What do you think your influence has been on fashion?Pharrell was sitting next to me at an event I had out in the country, and he said, “Hey, man, you got these young dudes in a headlock with your fashions.” I really think I played a role in guys changing their fashions now, because if you look at the BET Awards and the Grammys, they ain’t wearing T-shirts no more. They’re starting to dress up because I’ve never given up on dressing up. A lot of young cats have called me and said, “Hey, man, can I use your stylist?” —Cam WolfBANVOABANVOABrunello CucinelliCashmere Philosopher King, 73Solomeo, ItalyPaolo di LucenteIs your wardrobe entirely from your label?My current wardrobe is only made up of my brand’s clothes, but [the company archive has] a 5,000-square-meter warehouse where I store about 60,000 items that I’ve collected over the years. I think I deserve some money from Ralph Lauren, because I’ve bought so many pieces from him.For my personal items, I still have them all, from when I was 25 years old onwards. I have a T-shirt with “Los Angeles” written on it that was given to me by a girl whom I fancied—she was an unrequited love, but I still remember her. And do you know why I never throw away any piece? Because every piece basically epitomizes a moment of your life. I envisage one day my grandchildren looking through my wardrobe and saying, “That’s what my grandfather used to wear when he was young.”Is keeping your closet clean and organized important to you?Alexander Pope said, “Order is heaven’s first law.” So I’m very tidy as a person, very orderly. When I shine my shoes, I always do it myself because my wife doesn’t do a proper job. That’s the way I am. I like to see all my ties together, all my footwear together, everything perfectly tidy.This is also very important to do when you’re young: Every single piece of clothing has a label with the date in it. It’s really nice to know exactly when you bought something. Maybe somebody says to me, “Oh, have you put on weight?” “No, look—this is from 1991!” —Y.G.Paolo di LucenteKim JonesHigh-Fashion Master, 47London, EnglandFrancesco NazardoDo you collect any of your work from Louis Vuitton or Dior?I have a few pieces of Vuitton. The rest I gave all away, apart from one pair of shoes from Dior. I never designed for myself, and once I’ve finished with something I become bored looking at it.You’ve said you don’t like to take too long to get ready in the mornings.I normally lay my outfit out on the carpet in my dressing room the day before. The less things I have to think about myself when I’m working, the more time I’m focused on work. I’m not one of those people that are used to fucking chat, chat, chat about their work. I just get on with it. Because I think the people that chat about their work all the time aren’t doing their work properly.I notice you have quite a few Hermès Cargo Birkins.Yeah, I like Cargoes and I like Kelly Dolls. I go through phases of wearing the same thing all the time, and I just find having a nice bag is a way of breaking things up.Would you say you’re a type-A person?What’s that? —Zoë KeziaFrancesco NazardoLeon Thomas IIIGrammy-Winning Hitmaker, 33Los Angeles, CaliforniaAaron Sinclair. Grooming by Vicky Garcia using Armani Beauty. Barbering by Gary “GQ” Bonney.Are you one of those people who has the same piece in different fabrics?Pretty much. When I first got signed by my mentor Ty Dolla $ign, he was like, “Think about your wardrobe as if you were about to be drawn as a cartoon character. What is the silhouette that somebody could draw that makes sense?” And that kind of just clicked in my head. And since then, I’ve been really making sure that we stay close to the kind of cuts that really cater to my body type. I do my best to switch it up, though. You don’t want to wear the same thing every day, but you want to find a way to tell the same story a bunch of different ways.Do you collect anything?I have a pretty extensive collection of paperboy hats. It’s not like a traditional Kangol. Reminds me of the ’70s. I got about a good 20 or 30 hats just like that, so I can switch it up any color, any day and still stay in my silhouette.Where do you get your hats?I’m going to have to gatekeep this one, man. They going to be buying up all my hats. —R.A.Aaron SinclairAaron SinclairKwame OnwuachiJames Beard Award–Winning Chef, 36Las Vegas, NevadaRoger KisbyDo you have a go-to place for your suits?Honestly, I go to Suitsupply.A man of the people.A man of the people, baby. I have a custom Ralph Lauren Purple Label suit they did for me the [first] year I hosted the James Beard Awards, and then I have a Dolce & Gabbana suit I got for that same thing the next year. But I’m a frugal shopper.You have a place in Las Vegas, because you just opened a restaurant there. Does this wardrobe have a different vibe than your New York one?The New York one is a little bit older. The Vegas one is definitely more fun, more pops of color. I have colored pants, which I normally don’t wear.Are you particular about what you use to organize your closet?I have to have black velvet hangers. There’s no specific brand, but the clothes sit better on them, and then I get the sharp edges in the shoulders. And it also just looks real clean. —C.W.Roger KisbyAbu Jani & Sandeep KhoslaLegendary Bollywood Couturiers, 66 and 63Mumbai, IndiaKeegan CastroYou use traditional Bandhani textiles as shutters in your wardrobe. How did that idea come about?SK: When the shutters came, they were so ugly. I wanted to use the original Bandhani textile, but it was impossible to source in the quantity I needed. The fabric we’ve used here is Bandhani print on satin.You both tend to dress surprisingly understated. How would you describe your personal styles?SK: Comfort. More comfort. And then even more comfort. The looser the clothes, the better. It’s “anti-fit.” I’ve lived in white shirts and jeans all my life.AJ: He is very simple: fresh T-shirt, fresh socks, undergarments—SK: Only Calvin Klein.AJ: Jeans, often the same pair for four or five years, and one watch that he’ll wear until it drops. —Saloni DhruvKeegan CastroYohji YamamotoVisionary Designer, 82Paris, FranceAliocha WallonYour closet in Paris is very pared down. What is your approach to building a capsule wardrobe?I really don’t plan anything for my wardrobe. All the pieces have to be comfortable. I care about fabrics a lot. My way of mixing happens by accident—nothing planned.Do you tend to keep a personal archive of your work, or do you prefer to let things go?I don’t keep any archive, as I don’t want to look back. I am not interested in the past.I notice your legendary hat has a place of honor on a chair.I love this hat, always with me. One of my dogs nearly destroyed it, but still I wear it! —Y.G.Aliocha WallonAliocha WallonSam PinkletonBroadway Auteur, 39Brooklyn, New YorkRyan DuffinSo your closet is in your basement?It’s like the laundry room that has become my dressing room, like I’m a Victorian wife. It’s a place of peace for me. I spend my whole fucking day dealing with things that I can’t control, and I can go into my room with my clothes and put things together.What do you have the most of?I have 90 million graphic tees. I have so many gay graphic tees. Every diva. There’s not a gay bar in a small town that I do not have a fucking T-shirt from.And then, unfortunately, I have so many variations of black GOTs—“going-out tops.” It’s like, black asymmetrical GOT, black mesh GOT, black shiny GOT, black sparkly GOT. It’s so embarrassing, but it’s like there is a part of my closet that just looks like a Zara—I don’t think I own anything made by Zara, but that’s the idea. —R.A.Ryan DuffinRyan DuffinA version of this story originally appeared in the October 2026 issue of GQ with the title “‘It’s a Place of Peace For Me’: Inside the Closets of 13 Influential Men.”Sign up for Show Notes to get news on the latest runway shows, parties, and insider events on the international fashion circuit.