David Gandy Reveals His Alter-Ego
There is more than one David Gandy. There’s the version you know, the one with the blue-eyed stare, the torso and the tailoring. And there’s another, one who operates away from the flash bulbs, the man behind the supermodel.
On set today, both Gandys are present. The concept of this exclusive photoshoot for FashionBeans, devised by the man himself – or selves – is to show how one suit can have multiple personalities. So while one buttoned-up Gandy wears a dinner suit in a classic manner, with a shirt and bow tie, the other Gandy – not quite “evil”, but louche enough to be propping up the bar at London’s Corinthia Hotel at 10.30am on a Wednesday morning – dresses it down with a disreputably unzipped hoodie.
This is not just any dinner suit, mind – this is an M&S dinner suit. And this is not just David Gandy the model, it’s David Gandy the tailor. He has designed his own formalwear collection for Marks & Spencer, the high street institution for whom he serves as tailoring ambassador. Given the man’s propensity for looking debonairly suited and booted on front rows and Instagram feeds, it’s surprising that the Billericay beefcake turned style icon hasn’t had his own tailoring line before now.
“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” says the 38-year-old, who has enjoyed huge success with his loungewear and swimwear for M&S. “There are so many people now with lines, brands and collaborations. I felt like I needed to start at the very beginning and understand more about design, production, manufacturing, sales. It’s a whole different ball game. But it’s been fun.”
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The DG DJ is part of a capsule collection alongside a Prince of Wales check three-piece suit and a broad-collared navy overcoat. The narrow focus, suitably cautious for a first foray into designing, serves to make a wider point. “We’re not saying you have to buy 50 items,” explains Gandy: rather, you should buy a couple of great pieces that you can wear in many ways, and for many years. In that way, the collection is a different riff on sustainability to, say, making garments out of old plastic bottles or hemp. (Although the overcoat’s fabric is Responsible Wool Standard-certified, meaning it can be traced back to a high-welfare farm.)
