Est. 2008
I'm Joshua Katcher. I started The Discerning Brute, the world's first men's vegan lifestyle website, over 10 years ago. On this website you'll discover food, fashion, sports and culture for the ethically-handsome man.
Indulgence doesn't have to be shameful. At The Discerning Brute, we believe in the simple idea that the handsomeness of an object should be matched by the handsomeness of how it was made. Some think this is a radical approach. I just think it's common decency (and I'm guessing you do too).
Photo: Eric Mirbach
“It’s easy to feel powerless in the shadow of global problems. That’s why aspiring toward a vegan lifestyle has never been more rewarding. It might be the single most impactful, empowering and gratifying choice in striving for a better world.”
ABOUT JOSHUA
Joshua Katcher is a fashion entrepreneur, author, educator and vegan cheesemonger who has taught at Parsons The New School and LIM college, and has lectured internationally and lobbied in the United States for sustainable and ethical fashion. In 2019 he published Fashion Animals, the first book dedicated to understanding how and why animals are exploited in the fashion industry. He has over a decade of media production experience at top agencies.
Katcher was named one of the Top 20 Most Influential Vegans of 2019 by Veg News Magazine. He launched the first vegan, ethically-made menswear fashion brand, Brave GentleMan in 2010 after launching the first men's vegan lifestyle website The Discerning Brute in 2008. VOGUE says that, "The full scope of Katcher’s ethical commitment is rather head-spinning, just as it is to gape about his Williamsburg shop, with its complete future-is-now men’s range". PAPER MAG said BGM has "just about everything a mindful fashionisto could want”, while Sportswear International said that BGM is, “vegan smart and cool menswear”. Brave GentleMan has graced the cover of British GQ's November 2016 Issue on Benedict Cumberbatch. Forbes has featured BGM in their gift guides, while COMPLEX called BGM one of the “coolest things” they've seen. Katcher was awarded "Menswear Brand of the Year, 2016" and "Most Influential Designer of 2015" by PETA. He is a contributor to Business of Fashion, CFDA News and Plant Based News and has been interviewed on major networks, such as PBS News Hour as a fashion expert.
In 2017, Katcher cofounded RIND, a French-style, plant-based cheese company, and in 2020 he launched CIRCUMFAUNA, a data and research-driven platform to bypass animal inputs in fashion.
ON MASCULINITY
Let's be clear: mainstream-masculinity has some serious, far-reaching, negative impacts. At a systemic level, many of its tenets form a roadblock to a more compassionate and sustainable world. Empathy, kindness and caring about animals, ecosystems, other people, and even our own wellness have traditionally been relegated to the false stereotype of femme sentimentality and general weakness. We live in a culture that tends to excuse, celebrate and reward many forms of brutality, and tends to ridicule, shame and punish gentleness and compassion.
So why have I made a "men's lifestyle" website? I believe it's still necessary. Thankfully, the perception of veganism among men has changed a lot since I started writing in 2008, but we're far from solving this problem. Veganism need not be gendered - but for many, veganism is still perceived as an anemic regimen in the realm of the femme, and as a sacrifice of both power and pleasure. While The Discerning Brute features traditionally-masculine pursuits aimed at appealing to masculine-identifying people, I hope to subvert these tendencies and create a space where mainstream men can consider new ideas that center compassion in a context that doesn't frighten them off, with the goal of bringing about personal change. Is it perfect? Certainly not. Is it free of contradictions and missteps? Nope. Nonetheless, I aim to use The Discerning Brute as tool with which to critique and revise masculinity and challenge our notions of aspiration and what it means to "be a man" today.
Ultimately, The Discerning Brute is a tool for anyone, not just the strictly-masculine among us, who wants to live an ethical, enjoyable life.
