Fabien Kruszelnicki is a talented young London photographer who contributes to youth-oriented independent fashion titles like Dazed & Confused, Ilovefake and Oyster. Alongside his partner-in-crime James West, he is the founder and editor in chief of HERO — arguably the world’s most exciting (and sexiest!) independent men’s magazine right now. 

HERO’s filled with the future stars of male modeling. The fit young guys featured inside fill their portfolios with the biggest campaigns, and strut their stuff at the best shows in New York, Paris and Milan. At the back of the mag you’ll find quirky, conversational interviews with the models by some of the world’s best fashion writers, including LOVE Magazine’s Murray Healy and Isaac Lock. 

HERO #6 is out now, starring Teen Wolf’s Colton Haynes clad in D&G SS12, plus shoots by some of the coolest new and established photographers (previous editorials have been shot by the likes of Alessandro Dal Buoni, Stefan Heinrichs and Jamie Hawkesworth). Did I mention that it’s filled with a whole heap of smoking hot boys?

I forced Kruszelnicki to spill the beans on the issue, his new contributors and his latest man crush. 

Zac: What did you do before HERO?
FK: Well, I only graduated a couple of years earlier, so I was still freelancing as a photographer and slowly trying to build up my book in fashion photography. I did a fine arts degree, so I kind of had to start all over again in fashion. But my co-editor in chief James had previously worked at Homme+ as a designer, as well as a few other design and art direction agencies.

Describe HERO to someone who has never seen a copy?
It is foremost a men’s fashion magazine, which is youthful and energetic. We wanted to hark back to that period when fashion was more fun, when it was more about aspiration and you could relate to the models and share the dreams.

If your magazine was an animal, what would it be and why?
Ooh… That really is a hard question. I could say a tiger cub because it's still young but growing up to be something with real ROAR, but that would be cheesy!

Tell us about the current issue?
This issue is twice the size of the last one, and we're very proud of it! It also takes us in a slightly different direction. It’s a bit of a darker issue and is all about brooding, rebellious gangs and kids. We've also interviewed a few designers this time too, like Gosha Rubchinskiy, and Adrian Joffe, the president of Comme des Garçons. Plus we have an exclusive SS12 preview story that we're really excited about, and we worked with a lot of new amazing photographers!

Which exciting new contributors are you dying to tell us about? 
We worked with Danielle Levitt for the cover story this issue, which was a real privilege. Beau Grealy shot a beautiful story for us in upstate New York. That Comme preview story that I mentioned before was shot by Takay — another new contributor for this issue.

Why'd you select Colton Haynes for the cover? Man crush? Teen Wolf fan? 
Haha! We're fans of Teen Wolf and started watching it in the states before it hit the UK. We were trying to decide whom to put on the cover for this issue and were toying with the idea of an actor… Then one night we were watching an episode over a pasta bake and it all clicked! He's in this great new show, and he's got that exciting, youthful, energetic vibe about him. We met Colton on the shoot and I did an interview with him for it, and he's such a nice, grounded, genuine guy.

I’ve heard that the interview with Topman model Josh McLellan in the new issue is a masterpiece of sorts. Why do you think that is?
Haha — didn't you write that one, Zac? I think that interview is amazing. It's with this model that's only recently started out, but is also in a new band called Turbogeist. He's got a great personality, and has his own unique voice. 

Share an anecdote from one of the shoots?
When we were on the shoot for the cover story, we drove down to Atlantic City. It's crazy down there — it’s like a ghost town full of hookers — and when we were shooting Bradley on the beach at night with a fire behind him, we suddenly had this small audience of locals. We thought the cops were gonna come and hassle us, but one of the guys said, “Don't worry — we've got your back! We can get a gun out of the truck for him to shoot in the picture if you want!”

What's your vision for the future?
We'd love HERO to keep growing, have more pages, more amazing stories, for everyone to know about it — and then get that Yacht!