Throughout the '60s, Esquire 's creative genius not only created covers with iconic images but ones that also made powerful (sometimes controversial) social statements.
George Lois was the art director for Esquire throughout the 1960s, creating a total of 92 covers for the magazine. He created a visual tone for the publication that is still emulated to this day.
October 1963
"Bizarre Harper's Cover"
According to Lois, the cover was a swipe at magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. His focus was on showing real versus imagined glamour.
Via: jezebel.com
December 1963
Sonny Liston, "The First Black Santa"
Sports Illustrated summed it up: "Four months after Liston won the title, Esquire thumbed its nose at its white readers with an unforgettable cover. On the front of its December 1963 issue, there was Liston glowering out from under a tasseled red-and-white Santa Claus hat, looking like the last man on earth America wanted to see coming down its chimney."
June 1964
“A Nation's Tears”
Published seven months after JFK’s assassination, the cover, according to Lois, “…showed the opposite symbolism-of Kennedy himself, crying for his lost destiny.”
