Tom Norton: Editorial Work

The Rake Middle East • 26th February 2026

Is men's tailoring changing forever?

In the menswear domain, there is perhaps no sartorial pillar steeped in tradition than the noble art of bespoke
tailoring. And from those first style luminaries who held
a measurement device to a gentleman's arm promising him a garment fit like none he'd known, throughout the centuries of innumerable fashions and fancies, the customisation process has remained relatively unchanged. Until now...

Esquire Middle East • 20th August 2015

Why La Serre still regins supreme

As those who saw La Serre claim top spot in our Restaurant of the Year guide will attest, we’re big fans of the Parisian styled boulangerie and bistro here at Esquire. While most upmarket restaurants in the region seem to favour darker, monochrome decors – one of La Serre’s inherent fortes is the abundance of natural light it boasts, creating a crisp, clean feel redolent of the European eateries that it emulates so successfully.

Esquire Middle East • 6th July 2015

Why Zippo's flame refuses to die

Despite America’s falling cigarette intake and anti-smoking campaigns more prevalent than ever, Zippo is about to celebrate its most successful year to date, 82 years after its founding. Esquire went stateside to find out more about the brand whose flame refuses to die.
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The year is 1932 and America is still trying to haul itself out of the greatest economic depression in its history. Industry behemoths stretching from coast to coast have been brought to their knees. World output has plummet...

Esquire Middle East • 28th June 2015

Wimbledon's best-ever moments

From the Pat Cash climb to McEnroe meltdown, we take a look back at the All England Club’s greatest ever instances

Esquire Middle East • 20th June 2015

The worst legal defences ever

| THE OBESE DEFENCE
Richard Cooey, strung up on a double murder and rape charge in 1986, actually had his lawyers attempt to save him from an impending death penalty by arguing he was “too fat to die”. Seemingly, the negligent and cruel penitentiary system was responsible for the ginger-bearded beast’s colossal weight gain, but quite why they felt this was a good enough reason to keep him alive is uncertain. When this line of argument failed, the legal eagles proposed that the defendant’s medica...

Esquire Middle East • 25th May 2015

A Beautiful Mind remembered

At a mere 14-years-old when A Beautiful Mind was released, to say I was familiar with the life and times of Professor John Nash would be a gross lie. It would be equally fraudulent to claim that on its release in 2001, I turned to my friends outside the Odeon cinema one Friday night and said “You lot go enjoy The Fast and the Furious, I’m gonna catch this 140 minute biopic about a troubled genius.”
In fact, it wasn’t until a few years later that I actually got round to watching Ron Howard’s awar...

Esquire Middle East • 1st February 2015

Is this Dubai's best new Indian restaurant?

Yet another addition to the seeming slew of New York based hangouts popping up on Middle East shores, high-end Indian establishment Junoon has just opened its Dubai doors, bringing its Michelin starred status to the Shangri La hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Rather than just simply replicating its original Manhattan restaurant, the team behind Junoon has made a concerted effort to give the UAE branch its own identity, a feat principally achieved by exploring the local spice souks and markets, to par...

Esquire Middle East • 2nd January 2015

The New York Palace hotel is back in business

Even when self-anointed, living up to the moniker of “palace” in a city like New York is a daunting charge, so, prior to our arrival, we’ll admit to being a little intrigued as to whether the famed Madison Avenue establishment could match its palatial billing.
Setting foot in the hotel’s entrance, however, a first glance at the decadent reception area and swooping gold staircase beyond, served to instantly allay any scepticism we might have had; no American hubris to be found here, folks, the Ne...

Esquire Middle East • 19th November 2014

Lost Walls: A graffiti road trip through Tunisia

One of the founding forefathers of the modern art form of ‘calligraffiti’, in the past few years French/Tunisian artist El Seed has seen his unique and inventive efforts championed on the walls of the world’s art galleries right across to various Louis Vuitton fashion collaborations.
This year he launched his first book Lost Walls, artistically documenting his four week calligraffiti journey across his mother country, Tunisia.
 What was your main ambition with this project?
It was to show the di...

Esquire Middle East • 21st July 2014

Last Impressions: John Travolta

The Hollywood icon and aviation enthusiast talks to Esquire about bad outfits and being mistaken for American football players