FROM THE PUBLISHER
I LIKE YOUR STYLE
Style isn ’ t a word you hear a lot during a global pandemic . After all , these are the sort of serious times where we try to boil our lives down to the things that really matter , the things that have substance . And most of us mentally define style as the opposite of substance .
10 SOUTH FALL 2020
Publisher Michael Brooks at Stone and Webster Chophouse in the new Plant Riverside District .
But that mental definition misses the point entirely . Go ahead , look up the actual definition of style . The good old Oxford English Dictionary will tell you that style is the entire manner of doing something . Viewed through that definition , style isn ’ t superfluous . It isn ’ t the opposite of substance . It is substance . Style is everything .
Ever hear the words “ I like your style ?” Chances are they weren ’ t talking about the way you were dressed . They were referring to how you were carrying yourself . How you react to the world , how you treat people , how you endure times like these , it ’ s all part of your style . And it is , at times , undefinable .
And anyone who can endure turbulent times like these with style is worth celebrating . This is an era that makes sinking into despair too easy , and those who can rise above it and carry themselves are an inspiration to the rest of us .
Whether it ’ s a U . S . attorney / former professional skateboarder who looks like the cover of GQ , a line cook who worked his way up to executive chef , or any of the 17 companies here in the Coastal South that are facing 2020 ’ s gauntlet with a smile , this issue is a celebration of their style . Not the clothes they wear , but the attitude they carry with them every day .
Style is not something you put on and take off . It is the sum of your beliefs , standards , morality and ethics all packaged together to generate … you . So , let ’ s say we all start being a bit more cognizant of being stylish and as “ they ” say , it might catch on .
Some are looking at 2020 and seeing wall-to-wall challenges . But here ’ s to this being the year we all remember as the year in which we got our swagger back and developed our own personal style . I present to you , our Style issue 2020 .
MICHAEL BROOKS
PUBLISHER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER COLIN MURRAY