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JAGUAR MAGAZINE #07

  • Text
  • E
  • Arles
  • Gandy
  • Portland
  • Wang
  • Creativity
  • Jaguar
David Gandy and his XK120 charm London’s creative quarter | How charity In Place Of War channels creativity in conflict zones | Interior designer Joyce Wang shares the latest trends in luxury | Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s most successful year in Formula E | Meet Jaguar’s new design director Julian Thomson

52 / Jaguar Magazine

52 / Jaguar Magazine ARTWORK: MR CENZ (MRCENZ.COM)

In person Street art David Gandy's XK120 looks right at home in London's creative quarter, where old and new collide The dream factory Jaguar Classic fulfils fantasies Jaguar Classic restores, recreates and rebuilds the vehicles that made Jaguar what it is today. From David Gandy’s XK120 to the all-electric E-Type Zero, the craftspeople at Jaguar Classic are obsessed with quality and authenticity. For Gandy, it looks effortless: he stands, he sits, he smoulders. But he also speaks. It’s not small-talk, either: he’s giving creative input to the team around him, even nipping one set-up he doesn’t like in the bud. To say there’s more to Gandy than meets the eye is quite the statement, because the eye meets 6ft 3in of tanned, masculine beauty. There are Roman statues less chiselled. But, for him, just modelling isn’t enough. And it is never going to be. “Every shoot is a discussion,” he says. “You have to be headstrong. When you have a brand, you’re in charge of that. It’s something I’ve built over 17 years and after that amount of time you know what’s going to look good and what’s not. “I still walk into meetings now and people go, ‘Why are we in a meeting with him? Why does he have a say?’ It’s very diffcult sometimes. But that’s just human beings: we stereotype and we pigeonhole everyone.” When he speaks today, people listen, because he’s David Gandy. He’s earned the respect over those 17 years, working with many of the biggest brands and photographers on the planet. Unbelievably and unnoticeably, he still gets nervous before shoots. He hates red carpets. He doesn’t actually like being photographed. So he puts on a persona, he says, like Reg Dwight becoming Elton John on stage, only with less singing and better posture. “I quite like the butterflies,” he says. “I don’t know if it’s adrenaline. I enjoy pushing myself, getting out of my comfort zone.” Gandy’s entry into the world of fashion is a fabled fluke. In 2001, without telling him, his flatmate entered him into a modelling competition on UK daytime television – which he won. But there was no luck in the way he maximised the opportunity. He became the face of Dolce & Gabbana in 2006 and, after the success of the brand’s Light Blue fragrance campaign, the most famous male face (and torso) in the industry. Taking a lead from female supermodels, he wanted to build his brand, build businesses and have long-term collaborations. (“As Cindy Crawford said, I want a marriage, not a one-night stand.”) He’s managed this EXPERIENCE HISTORY Jaguar Classic also offers the opportunity to visit and tour the state-of-the-art facility in Coventry, getting up close with around 500 iconic vehicles and meeting the incredible people who restore and rebuild them. For further information on available vehicles, bespoke restoration services and facility tours, please search Jaguar Classic. » Jaguar Magazine / 53

 

JAGUAR

THE JAGUAR MAGAZINE

 

JAGUAR MAGAZINE celebrates creativity in all its forms, with exclusive features that inspire sensory excitement, from seductive design to cutting-edge technology.

The latest issue features a range of inspiring people: from Luke Jennings, creator of Villanelle, one of the most interesting television characters in recent times, to Marcus Du Sautoy, who ponders whether artificial intelligence is on the brink of becoming creative. Out on the road, we visit the US to explore the foodie heaven of Portland in a Jaguar I-PACE, take a Jaguar XE to the south of France to get a photographer’s viewpoint of the charming town of Arles, and much more.

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