Star Stylist Warren Alfie Baker on How He’s Bringing the ’60s Back with a New Tie Bar Collab
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THR 2023 Power Stylist Warren Alfie Baker is bringing his retro red carpet magic — seen on clients Andrew Garfield, Sir Patrick Stewart, Lewis Pullman, Glen Powell, Matt Bomer and Patrick Dempsey, to name a few — to everyone’s wardrobes with his new collaboration with The Tie Bar.
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Available now online and at The Tie Bar’s Chicago flagship, the seven-piece collection comprises vintage-inspired neckwear ($24-$28) in Baker’s signature Beatles-meets-Saville Row sensibility. Designs include handpainted florals, plum and teal tonal colorways with a chevron graphics and abstract wave prints on 100 percent silk and in modern or traditional widths, as well as a “very controversial” black organza scarf tie reminscent of British Dandies and Mick Jagger’s 1960s style.
“I’m British, so that’s a lot of my aesthetic. I love vintage, British menswear from the ‘50s and ‘60s, especially The Beatles and Paul McCartney in Get Back,” Baker tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I love using ties and with a classic suit, wearing a tie gives it a statement. Post-COVID, we were back in tracksuit bottoms. I think it’s always nice to make an effort, and a tie makes the difference.”
The florals “have a washed out vintage texture … We wanted it to feel like a wet painting which I thought was so pretty,” says London-bred, now LA-based Baker. His love for warmer palettes is seen in a brown floral print tie: “I always am drawn to a brown-reddy, my mum always tells me off! Some people just don’t like brown, so I need to start a campaign for it.”
Baker also just released a new capsule of eight boots with Italian accessories branad Scarosso featuring a distinctive zipper and fashionable heel. “The connection with Scarosso was instant. Within minutes, we had sketches and a shared vision for the perfect shoe. We aligned on the style, the essence, and the innovative approach for its launch,” said the stylist in a statement.
Ahead, Baker chats with THR about his chic new collection, his thoughts on the resurgence of high-waisted pants and “Nobu style” in menswear and more.
How did you decide upon the specific designs for your Tie Bar collection?
I thought, if I was going to design a tie collection, how would I style the Beatles? I’ve worked with The Tie Bar for a long time; the guys over there are always very cool, professional, and knowledgeable on the history of fabrics, and they’ve done some custom pieces for me.
Warren Alfie Baker x The Tie Bar Painted Floral Tie
Which clients did they make custom pieces for?
Zachary Levi, that was for his Shazam press tour. I had a burgundy look in London I wanted to throw it back to the Shazam lightning bolt, so we designed a really cool tie in six to seven days. You couldn’t really see up close but it was more for the impact of seeing it in person. Especially with things like that, you want it to be a subtle take. You’ve got some guys that like to do that, it’s great they want to be a little bit more playful.
Walk us through the rest of the designs.
The scarf tie was a little bit controversial for the Tie Bar. That one has a Western-y vibe but then also it has a cool masculine/femme style.
The cream floral one would be so pretty for a wedding or for the summer. I was just imagining dressing them with either a suit, or a relaxed denim jacket or a shirt, just to make it a little bit more Beatles or a vintage vibe.
With the blue abstract tie, we were going through loads of archive images, there were something like this wave motif that’s very loud. It falls into that more ‘50s/‘60s print which I like. The teal and the burgundy ties with the graphic — it’s so simple, but I just like the idea of having a different color piece at the bottom that makes it feel like a statement. It’s so subtle, it just polishes off a tie by stepping in a different zone if you don’t want to do a floral.
Warren Alfie Baker x The Tie Bar Slim Scarf Tie
I love that the ties are in modern and traditional widths. What’s your advice for choosing the right width?
Generally, we have rules and it just depends on where you are in the moment. Like with body type, I love to use wider lapel jackets. But with wider tie, which was my purpose in this collection, if you do them with a skinny tie, kind of proportionally a little off skew. Even with a wider lapel, the scarf with a bow is a good proportion.
And yet even with ties [you can wear them with] fitted jeans and a nice belt and do a little more smart-casual vibe, but it dresses up a bit. It’s good for LA [if you’re not] ready for a suit.
Speaking of casual vs. suits, I read that GQ story on Travis Kelce bringing “Nobu Style” back into the spotlight. What are your feelings on it?
Generally, especially for someone like him, there’s someone always doing something behind the scenes — someone’s getting the clothes. Even with our street style here in LA, the culture is very streetwear, so that kind of “Nobu style” is the most Los Angeles sense of way to describe something. I just think it depends on the person, and randomly I was there the other day and it is that kind of vibe. On the other end of that, there are still guys dressing in a smarter way, you think a lot of that disappears but people want to be a little bit more suited or polished. I generally follow my own rules I stay in my lane and let the trends do their own thing.
We have to talk about high-waisted pants too — did you see Jeremy Allen White’s British GQ shoot? What are your thoughts on the style?
I am full believer of the high-waisted pants — total throwback! Proportionally it’s good for people who are shorter with longer torsos. Especially when I do photos, there’s a Paul Newman, Cary Grant — the classics — there’s a high-waisted pleat pant. If it’s not broke don’t fix it! It has an air of just classic, very beautiful luxury menswear, but whether you do a full suiting situation or have pants with a T-shirt, it oozes “man.”
With the holidays coming up, what’s your go-to for gifts?
I’m very, low-key. For receiving things, I don’t really need anything. With my partner, I always try to buy him jewelry. Especially nowadays I love gold; for guys, it just makes a look a little bit sexier — just a clean gold change with a nice pendant, a nice bracelet or even a cool little pinky ring. Those classic pieces, I think a lot of people think, nine times out of 10 people don’t really think about jewelry on guys. When you see it — a guy living in a necklace, with a shirt or suit, or at the beach, with some swim shorts — I always find it a bit sexy.
I love David Yurman just for their gold and it’s very kind of gender fluid I buy their woman’s earrings, two for one, there’s a place on South Beverly, XIV Karats, those guys are great too. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it has a bit of everything. For watches, I love Omega for classic, they do so many options of color faces, quintessential goods, classic watch-making jewelry.
event at Kimpton Lapeer Hotel in West Hollywood on Nov. 30.
Let’s talk your red carpet essentials. What are some tried and true go-to items?
The classic mini steamer! I go through so many. The hotel has 4,000 of my mini steamers. My hubby tells me, “you didn’t leave another one, did you?” I generally never know [the brand name] because he’s always replaced it right away. We’ve been together 21 years and he has nothing to do with fashion, but he’s always reminding me, “you’re out of rollers!” With double-sided tape, I use it more on men’s collars of shirts just to keep them clean and crisp so they don’t flap about a bit.
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