The New Bronx Cheer

Yeah, we know Brooklyn rules and Manhattan is the center of the cosmos. But lately the borough everyone's talking about is the fastly changing Bronx. We asked the biggest star in Latin music, Bronx-born héroe favorito Romeo Santos, to take us on a tour, dressed for a city on the move.
Image may contain Romeo Santos Transportation Vehicle Automobile Car Human Person Clothing Apparel and Wheel
Jacket, $6,800, pants, $950, and shoes, $940, by Bottega Veneta / Shirt, $600, by Jeffrey Rüdes / Necklace by David Yurman / Bracelet by L.11 NYC / Watch by Jaeger-LeCoultre. On her: Slip dress by La Perla / Heels by Gianvito Rossi / Bracelet by Hermès / Car (Huracán Performante) by Automobili Lamborghini.

Between songs, a wildly famous singer introduces himself to a young woman in the front row. Her boyfriend is standing next to her. The singer shakes the boyfriend's hand and asks him to turn around, and the boyfriend complies. The singer steps off the stage, takes the woman's head in his hands, and plants a fat kiss right on her lips. The crowd loses its collective mind.

Shirt, $1,440, and pants, $750, by Louis Vuitton / Loafers, $590, by Church's. On women: Dresses by Trash and Vaudeville (left) and Philipp Plein / Silver heels by Giuseppe Zanotti Design / Jewelry by Jennifer Fisher.

Jacket, $3,660, and jeans, $570, by Tom Ford / T-shirt, $78, by Michael Kors / Boots, $450, by To Boot New York / Sunglasses by Cutler and Gross / Necklace by David Yurman / Bracelets (from top) by Tateossian and Renvi / Rings by Vitaly

This is not the first time Anthony “Romeo” Santos—arguably the biggest Latin pop star working right now—has pulled this move. In fact, romancing the women in the audience is an integral part of his act. But the Latin-lover shtick ends when he walks offstage. “I've always been extremely shy,” Santos says in his hoarse Bronx bro-speak—the opposite of the satin tenor in his songs. “I think that's how it all began: realizing I'm not going to be able to pull this off with my real personality.”

Anthony, Santos says, is a fiercely private family man of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent who developed the Romeo persona to gain confidence. Anthony is a workaholic industry hustler who was named CEO of Roc Nation Latin, while Romeo is the guy modernizing Dominican bachata with infectious songs like “Propuesta Indecente.” In the video, Romeo seduces another man's lady by half-rhyming Bailamos bachata and Terminamos en la cama (“We end up in bed”). “I'm all about love, desamor [heartbreak], sex,” he says. And making “the oxygen.” Music. Joy. Good vibes. This is both Anthony and Romeo, in agreement.

Sports jacket, $2,695, shirt, $375, and jeans, $595, by Dolce & Gabbana / Boots, $425, by Paul Evans / Belt by Tom Ford / Necklaces by Renvi / Ring by Bottega Veneta.

Dress for the Spotlight Every Single Day

“Even when I'm not performing,” Santos says, “I think people look at me different when they see I'm dressed well. They pay attention. They know I'm about something.”


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