How famous men raise the bar for fashion

Hudson Kroenig might still be in nursery school, but the child appears to have been assigned the most coveted of style roles: the muse.

The four-year-old son of celebrated model Brad Kroenig, and godson of fashion impresario Karl Lagerfeld, has recently trod the catwalks in a Chanel bowed blouse, kilt and velvet jacket, been photographed in Vogue Germany, and is roundly presumed to be Lagerfeld's latest source of inspiration. How can a pint-sized preschooler compete with the legacies left by historic muses, such as Marie-Therese Walter (Picasso) and Maud Gonne (Yeats)?

Kroenig's ascent into the glare of the international media has people wondering about the status of male muses overall. There have been numerous female muses over the ages, inspiring the works of Dante and Dali. Modern eras have seen the co-opting of the muse from the areas of literature and art to the far more mercurial field of fashion - be that Audrey Hepburn for Givenchy, or Lauren Hutton for Ralph Lauren. Male muses, on the other hand, have been slower to emerge on the zeitgeist. However, as experts point out, they have never been far from the limelight - and these days, occupy more and more space in it.

"There are many [male muses] that influence fashion brands on a recurrent basis," says Isham Sardouk, chief creative officer at trend forecasting firm Stylesight. Persol, the sunglasses brand, will forever be associated with the rugged masculinity of Steve McQueen, and James Dean did the same for Ray Ban. Giorgio Armani and Michael Kors contributed to the 2006 book by Richard Torregrossa, Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style, and the enduring aesthetic of David Bowie is at the heart of the current exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. "In today's world of male icons, I see them emerging not only from the entertainment industry, but from many other fields with multidisciplinary jobs and styles," Sardouk says.

Noted fashion historian, author and curator Bronwyn Cosgrave points to the James Bond character - and his many incarnations from Roger Moore to Daniel Craig - as being one of the most sophisticated of male muses in history, so much so that there is an entire exhibition dedicated to him.

"Designing 007 - Fifty Years of Style", curated by Cosgrave, will be touring globally until 2015, including a stop in Shanghai. "The impact of James Bond's dress mode - in say a tuxedo or a tailor-made suit - has been so huge that is impossible to calculate," Cosgrave says. "Men all over the world aspire to be as suavely dressed as Bond."

The actors may have changed, but their impact on the culture of style has endured over the decades. "Pierce Brosnan wearing Brioni as Bond put this Roman 'house of high fashion for men' - as it is known - on the map," Cosgrave says. Similarly, Craig rocking Tom Ford was an immeasurable aid to the former Gucci designer as he established his eponymous brand. And Cosgrave discovered that the suit that Sean Connery wore as Bond in the '60s, known as the "Conduit Cut", is still routinely asked for at bespoke tailor shops in London.

"The charisma Sean Connery exuded dressed in the Conduit Cut suit made it the men's equivalent of the Chanel suit," Cosgrave says. "It has been as equally sought after."

In some regards, the role of a male muse is little different from their female counterparts in that their innate style - be that the suave cool of Richard Gere as much as the waifish elegance of Hepburn - serve to inspire designers. Indeed, who else other than Gere could so define both an era (the '80s) and so flawlessly carry off Armani's signature elegance? As Sardouk points out, Jude Law is something of the new Cary Grant for Christian Dior, and Ryan Reynolds - young, hot, sexy - is the face of all things Hugo Boss. Actors known for their highly distinctive traits - Gary Oldman, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe - are perfect for the edgy cool that is Prada.