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What Luka Sabbat Can’t Live Without

Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photo: Balkis Press/ABACA/Shutterstock

If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like hair spray or an electric toothbrush. We asked actor and model Luka Sabbat, who recently partnered with Dr. Martens, about the marker pens, black T-shirts, and vintage denim he can’t live without.

Coke is the best beverage, but I have to drink it out of a glass bottle, not a can. It’s just more refreshing. It’s my go-to anywhere I go because you can’t fuck it up. Different sodas are different everywhere, like European Fanta is different than American Fanta, but Coca-Cola is the only one that’s the same no matter where you have it in the world. I don’t know what they put in there, but man, the moment it hits, with those ice cubes and a dash of lemon. I like it European style, but there’s a big discourse about it. Americans like it straight up. Some people hate putting lemon. Every time my American friends come to Paris, they’re like, “Why do you put lemon in there?” I don’t know; maybe I’m biased because that’s how I was raised. But that’s the best way to have a Coca-Cola.

Krinks are just cool. I just bought more, actually. I use these to make art at home. They feel so smooth and you can literally mark anything with them. You can draw on anything — furniture, the wall. Or, for example, I’ll mark my Rimowas with them. Eventually, it washes off, but it’s a good way to mark your suitcases. And I like the pens on paper as well for making different types of prints.

I wear all black almost every day, so the black T-shirt is a staple of my closet. I hate when my shirts are longer than my jacket, but also when shirts are too cropped. This specific T-shirt fits perfectly and goes with everything. It has a boxy fit, but the body’s not too short. And there’s this seam in the front that makes it look like you’re wearing the shirt backwards, but you’re not. I currently have five in my suitcase. It’s going to sound pretentious, but I’ll go to great lengths for the perfect T-shirt. And this to me is the perfect T-shirt.

I have over-the-ear headphones for flights, but on a day-to-day basis, I can’t have noise cancellation in a city. You’ve got to be able to hear some things, like a car beeping or somebody calling you. I want to be audibly aware of what’s happening around me, so I find the AirPods’ noise-canceling a bit too much. I also want people to know that I’m wearing headphones, so they know not to talk to me or bother me. Because I have so much hair, if I’m wearing AirPods, it doesn’t look like I’m wearing headphones. So then I look rude or I look like an asshole if somebody is like, “Hey, man, excuse me,” and I don’t respond. So I like the wired ones because you can visually tell that I’m wearing headphones, but I can also still hear what’s happening around me. If I’ve got to talk to somebody, I could just take one out and dangle it from my ear versus holding the AirPod or finding the case.

Aviators are just the most classic shades. I like them kind of western-style with the colored lenses, yellow or red depending on the fit. I have so many different aviators that go with different ’fits. It was sick 30 years ago and it’s sick now. I’ve lost countless pairs of sunglasses, so I’ve rebought these so many times. What choice do I have? I mean, I can’t not have aviators.

Vintage Levi’s have my favorite wash. They’re not too light, they’re not too dark, and they usually age perfectly. I say “usually” because that’s not the case for every single pair, obviously. But I just find myself buying this type of Levi’s more than others. I’ve been buying jeans ever since I’ve been able to make money, so I have countless pairs at this point. Also, I travel so much that I have different closets in different places. I end up amassing a lot of duplicates. I’ve been buying the same stuff over and over for a very long time.

Every pair of vintage jeans fits differently because they were all worn by different people. I’m looking for something that’s really comfortable around the waist — sizing was different back then, so 32 then doesn’t necessarily mean 32 anymore. Ideally, I like a straight-legged or boot cut — I hate when things are tapered at the bottom. I always wear boots, so there needs to be space for my boots to fit. But what’s great about jeans that are pre-worn is that they already have the softness. I don’t necessarily wear raw selvage denim. Call me a princess, but I don’t want to do all the work. I don’t want to wait 20 years. Give them to me done already.

My first one was a gift. But lighters are the most lost-slash-stolen item ever. Especially in nightlife, it’s like, “Hey, do you have a lighter?” So I had lost about four of them, and they’re not cheap. So now I have this last and final version, which they made specifically with a chain. It’s impossible to lose. It’s literally attached to your person. I don’t know how you’d be able to go running off with this one — you’d have to steal my pants.

Smoking is a very social thing, at bars or restaurants or clubs, so it’s started a lot of conversations. It’s an icebreaker. And it does feel like an artifact or a relic. I’ve learned from my mistakes, especially when people are like, “Oh, can I hold it?” Like, nah, if me lighting it for you isn’t enough, then you gotta kick rocks, you know what I mean?

They’re cool. They’re made out of sterling silver. I mean, obviously I’m not letting people borrow my toothpicks, but yeah, you just clean them and reuse them. I brush them and then dump a bunch of hydrogen peroxide on them, and then bada-bing, they’re good to go. I also wear grills and even though these are useless when I have grills on, it does look cool to have a metal toothpick on top of gold teeth.

I’ve been wearing Docs since I was a teenager, so it didn’t seem out of character to work with a brand that I already organically wear in my everyday life. I like to go to music festivals, I like to go to raves. I’m active, I’m outside, and they’re really a shoe that you can put through the wringer and they look better and better the more you wear them.

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What Luka Sabbat Can’t Live Without