VR: Your age and occupation?

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

LE: I’m 23 and married to the most beautiful woman in the world!

VR: Your educational background?

LE: I have no official degree and high school is my highest education. This is because I’m working with sales and have no need for any bachelor or master.

VR: Have you any children or girlfriend (and how do they relate to your style enthusiasm)?

LE: My wife likes that I’m into fashion, because she doesn’t mind that her husband looks and acts like a Gentleman. However, sometimes she gets a little tired with my interest in fashion because she thinks some of the trends are over the top, and I like to shop more than her. For me, men’s fashion is a hobby, while she thinks it’s nothing but clothes. I can’t see any problem with having 5 different suits, since they are all in different styles and colors. She thinks one’s enough ;-)

VR: …and your parent’s and siblings’ reactions back when you were younger?

LE: My parents have always dressed me in nice clothes and think it’s important to dress appropriate. My father was always wearing a suit, so for me and them it’s been natural to be more interested in fashion than other people.

VR: What other hobbies or passions do you have besides apparel?

LE: Besides men’s fashion, I’m crazy about cars and motorsports. BMW and Porsche are brands that lay close to my heart. Fun fact: I drive a blue 2007 BMW Z4 Coupé and I drove it on the Nuremberg in Germany this summer.

VR: How did you first become interested in clothes, and when did you turn your eyes towards the classics? Why these instead of fashion?

LE: Besides that I’ve always liked to dress appropriate, my interest in men’s fashion had a kick start some years ago when I started in sales. I had to dress professional, but I didn’t want to look like typical “white collar”. Because of this, I started to read different overseas blogs about men’s fashion and developed an interest in clothes.As you can understand, I’ve been raised to dress and act presentably — the swag/hipster-style doesn’t appeal to me. I mean, style is subjective and you dress the way you feel so it’s more natural for me to wear a suit than the latest Justin Bieber-fashion.

VR: How have you gathered your knowledge of clothing — from books, in-house training, workshops or somewhere else?

LE: I’ve gathered knowledge and inspiration mainly from blogs all over the world. I also like to talk to people, so whenever I’m shopping, I really like to talk to the retailer about their personal style and the latest products.

VR: When was Norske Gentlemen founded and what goals did you have in mind back then? How has the site been received?

LE: NorskeGentlemen.com was founded in October 2013. I’ve always been trash-talking about the “pink-bloggers” (a Norwegian expression) who are blogging about their life and fashion. So I never thought that I would someday have my own blog. But people have been giving me compliments about my way of dressing, and have encouraged me to start a blog so that I can inspire other people as well.

So my vision with the blog is to inspire men all over the world to dress better. Even though you are already deep into men’s fashion or just want to look at some cool clothes, I´m sure you’ll find something inspiring on NorskeGentlemen.com.

VR: How would you describe your own dress? Which RTW makers or tailors do you favour?

LE: I would describe my own style as classical. I love to wear double-breasted suits, wingtips, braces and a hat. I don’t do that every day, so if you meet me on the street you’ll probably see me in my monk shoes, chinos and a blazer. In my everyday-outfits, it’s important to dress practically as well as stylishly.I really like brands like SuitSupply and Morris. Their collections and style appeal to me, and I’m pretty sure I could wear anything they have.

VR: Who or what inspires you?

LE: My nr.1 inspiration is www.TSBmen.com. I love Dan and the team’s personal style, and the work they do. A lot of people inspire me, like Khaled Nasr, DanielRe (on Instagram) and Angel Bespoke.

VR: What is your definition of style?

LE: Style is subjective, either you like it or you don’t.

VR: Finally, how would you describe the style of Norwegian men and businessmen in general?

LE: In Norway, we have something called “The Jante law”. I´m not sure if you’re familiar with it, but basically it says that you should not think that you are better or greater than someone else. I think this affects the way we dress, which results in that people don’t want to stand out. Hopefully my blog can change that, and people will try to experiment with fashion. But don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of great looking Gentlemen all over Norway. And since we have a lot of money over here, many can afford those expensive clothes.

http://www.norskegentlemen.com

Photos: Norskegentlemen.com and Ørjan Andreasen